Lost in a Memory
by Gottabeelove
Summary: If love was a vampire's greatest weakness, Caroline was his. He may have taken away her memories, but no amount of alcohol could take away his. AU - told in 1920 and current day. Posting from Tumblr.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One – The Ballad of Love and Hate**

_**Hate sits alone on the hood of his car without much regard on to the moon or the stars lazily killing the last of a jar of the strongest stuff you can drink. Hate gets home luck to still be alive. He screams o'er the sidewalk and into the drive. The clock in the kitchen says 2:55, and the clock in the kitchen is slow. **_

_His gaze rose to the door when she walked in, as did every other man's in the room, a fact that was not lost on the blonde for a moment as a smirk formed on her lips. The closest few stammered to buy her a drink or twirl her around on the dance floor, but she blew them all off in her haste to get to the bar and to one man in particular, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she sat down next to him at the bar, stealing a sip from his bourbon. Klaus recognized them. He had never met them in person per se but he had seen pictures. In his hunt to exact his revenge on Katherine, the Salvatore siblings had inevitably come into play, the bubbly blonde younger sister who had quickly become Katherine's best friend and her overprotective older brother who fell head over heels for the doppelganger on the run. What he was surprised to see was them both alive. It was clear that Katherine had turned them both during her time in Mystic Falls, otherwise they would be long gone by now. He had to admit looking at her now, the pictures had done the young blonde no justice. Sure she had been beautiful when she was standing in the archaic 1800s garb in the photos, but seeing her now, blonde curls pinned back in a bun, a few curls hanging loosely to frame her face, short, black, flapper dress that hugged her curves in the best possible way. It was all he could to not to groan out loud as she leaned over the bar to flag down the bartender, his fate sealed as he watched her order a whiskey as opposed to one of the much more girlish drinks he was expecting her to order. _

_ He set his drink down on the table and quickly stepped away from the booth, leaving Rebekah and their companions for the evening calling after him. He had seen enough of this blonde to know that he wanted to know more, so he began by leaning against the bar and ordering a drink, listening for an opportunity to jump into the conversation. He took a lazy sip from his scotch, ignoring the brunette to his left trying to catch his attention completely. _

_ "Blondie, no," Damon shook his head. Klaus couldn't help, but smirk as the blonde stomped her foot and pouted, which only seemed to spur on Damon more. _

_ "I just want to see it. Just once, it's been over fifty years, no one will recognize us," Caroline whispered angrily, but Klaus, of course, picked up on it. "I just need to see it."_

_ "Caroline, no. It's a death wish. Fifty years is nowhere near long enough. You don't think those stories have passed down. It's barely been a generation. Don't be stupid," he said, sternly, using the older brother voice that rarely made an appearance since they had arrived in Chicago. "We've only been here for a few months. Just settle, Caroline. We're safe here." His voice lowered, tipping his head back to swallow the contents of his bourbon glass in one gulp, before once again meeting Caroline's disappointed glance. Klaus had to smirk, the girl had the perfect lips for a pout and the tenacity not to back down. "Give it ten years, Blondie, then we will_ talk_ about going back there."_

_ "Fine," she all but hissed, tossing back her own drink. Something she had clearly learned from watching her older brother. Klaus was finally unable to hold the chuckle that had been growing in his throat back, drawing both Damon and Caroline's attention to him. "Can I help you?" Caroline asked, raising an eyebrow cautiously. _

_ He marveled at her, it was rare he met a vampire who was unaware of who was, led alone one that spoke to him so harshly, it only spurred on his growing interest in her, "Klaus." He extended his hand to her. "Can I buy you a drink?"_

_ Caroline stared at it for a moment, before her eyes flicked back up to his, making no attempt to shake it. "I don't know, you'll have to ask brother. He seems to think he's my keeper these days," she scoffed, shooting a daggered look back at Damon before storming out of the bar. _

_ Damon could not help but chuckle, tapping his glass on the bar to get another shot, "Sorry, mate. You'd have better luck with a nun." He patted Klaus's shoulder, tossing back his shot as quickly as it was placed on the bar. Grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair, he walked out of the bar to chase after Caroline, leaving Klaus to walk back to his booth in the air of his defeat._

|Lost in a Memory|

It was a memory he got lost in often. It seemed as though every time Klaus got a moment to himself thoughts of her immerged above his plans for hybrids, above his hatred of his father, above everything else. He would smell the familiar perfume or catch a glimpse of blonde curls out of the corner of his eyes and he could find himself right back in that corner booth in Chicago with her whispering in his ear and he would begin to feel guilty. Thoughts of Caroline and the lengths he had gone to in order to protect her were the only things capable of making him feel that particular emotion and the results were never good. Blue eyed blondes had quickly become his victims of choice when on the emotional rampages. Every few years he would consider tracking her down and reversing him compulsion, but something always stopped him. The fear of her rejection when he told her he had compelled her, the one thing he had promised her he would never do, fueled his drive to stay away.

He bitterly picked up the scotch sitting in front of him and downed it in a flash, trying to figure out why he was sitting at the only bar in this horrid town knowing there was a large possibility of running into her. It was a sadomasochistic streak that ran deep in the old hybrid. It didn't take long for him to get his wish. The blonde vampire came strolling in with the doppelganger and the witch on either side of her. She scanned the room and stopped for a moment when her eyes fell upon him. A small smirk formed on her lips as she caught him staring and for a split second he wondered it any part of her remembered in some unconscious, impossible way. It faded much too quickly though, giving way to that of distain and hatred, but it was those little flickers of emotion that he held onto. The moments when even his compulsion could not over power the habit of smiling when she saw him. He needed to let that go if he was ever going to move on. The thought made him chuckle. If love was a vampire's greatest weakness, Caroline was his. Moving on from Caroline simply was not an option, which was why he killed things. He did not blame Caroline for hating him. She was happy here and he destroyed it. His father had once told him that he destroyed everything he touched and the words did not reign truer than when he applied them to Caroline.

In the three years since Caroline and Damon had arrived in Mystic Falls, they had built a life for themselves here. Damon was in a constantly on-again-off-again relationship with the doppelganger and Caroline had settled into a mundane high school life that he couldn't even begin to understand. She had the world at her finger tips, but she was repeating the worst four years of most humans' lives over and over again. She had propelled herself into the high school hierarchy; head cheerleader, student body president, and the boyfriend. Tyler was the vane of Klaus's existence. He wanted to shake her. He did not understand how she could be as careless as to date someone who's intent was to kill her even if it was only for one day a month. Klaus had never shared well, even if she did not belong to him anymore, he still fumed every time he saw Tyler's hands on _his_ girl. Truthfully, that was why he turned Tyler. He had told everyone, including Rebekah, that it was simply proximity and opportunity. Tyler had been the closest werewolf to him and he knew turning someone within their group would get him the best possible outcome, but part of him hoped they would not figure it out. Tyler would be dead and he could get away without shouldering all of them blame. Most of it would be on him, but there was a small part of Caroline that would have blamed Bonnie and the others for not being able to figure it out. They turned out to be smarter than he thought they were and in the end, he inadvertently gave Caroline the opportunity to spend an eternity with Tyler.

"Another scotch?" The Donovan boy asked from behind the bar.

"Just bring the bottle," Klaus commented, shooting him a look that could have killed. He brought the bottle to his lips, keeping his eyes fixed straight forward and not to the corner of the bar where Caroline had just greeted his first hybrid with a kiss. It barely registered when someone sat down next to him.

"I have to ask. Why do you do this to yourself?" Damon asked. He was famous for his self-loathing and destructive habits, but what Klaus was doing was a whole new level of self-torture in his opinion.

"How long did you wait after Katherine?" Klaus challenged, deciding against answering Damon's exact question. They were not exactly friends, it was not more than a few months ago that they hybrid had tried to kill Damon's girlfriend and Damon had tried to kill him with the Bennett witch's help. He smirked grimly to himself at Damon's lack of an answer. "Exactly." He brought the bottle to his lips once again, enjoying the burn in his throat.

Damon took a deep breath, he was never one to formulate his words carefully, but things were different when it came to Caroline and that was something they were both painfully aware of. Caroline's involvement in any situation seemed to change the stakes for everyone involved, "I don't like her with the dog either. I don't like knowing she could die if she pisses him off, but you know better than _anyone_ how headstrong she is. It's pointless. She doesn't listen to me or even witchy. She knows it's dumb, but she does it to spite me. I don't want her hurt any more than you do, but there's no talking her out of this. Trust me, I've tried. Blondie is on her own here." Damon said before leaving Klaus to get drunk on his own before he returned to the brunette in the corner of the grill.

"_What was that about? Why were you talking to Klaus, Damon?"_ he heard Elena asked.

"_Don't worry about it, princess."_ He cut her off and Klaus took this as his cue to exit the bar.

The next morning, Klaus called Tyler over to his home. His original plan that morning had been to kill him, but he came up with a much better plan. He was going to test the hybrid bond. See how far he could push Tyler's obedience and test if there was a breaking point. He needed to know what he could push his hybrids to do without compelling. Loyalty was far better than compelled loyalty in Klaus's book and Tyler seemed readily available to do whatever he bid of him.

"You wanted to see me?" Tyler asked as he walked into the nearly constructed home behind Daniel.

"Tyler, glad to see you here so quickly," Klaus said, clasping his hands behind his back. He had gotten good at this charade; pretending Tyler was the pride of his pack, his first success when truthfully, he would love nothing more than to rip the boys heart from his chest himself. He could not help the smirk that formed on his lips at that satisfying thought, his hand wrapped around his beating heart before yanking it from the boy's thoracic cavity. He shook the thought away, more important matters were at hand and he needed to attend to them. "I have a task for you."

Tyler's expression fell at the words. He knew that Klaus's 'tasks' were generally not anything he had any desire to do; he had learned that from personal experience. "What?" he asked in haste, the primal anger taking over before he managed to reign himself back in.

"I want you to bite Caroline," he said, the words not rolling off his tongue as easily as he thought they would. He knew that no harm would actually come to his blonde. If Tyler did listen to him, Klaus had every intention of saving her. Even if his life would be easier without her in the world; her death would be his cure and his downfall all wrapped into a tiny blonde package and he would be lying if he said he was not tempted. He could never go through with it though.

"What? No," Tyler said firmly, just as Klaus had expected to. "I'm not biting my girlfriend. I'm not going to kill her. No." He stood his ground.

"Tyler, might I remind you that you are sired to me, you don't have a choice." He leaned against the back edge of the couch. He watched the flashes of emotion wave over the boy's face, it was amusing really. The fight in his eyes, the confliction, and ultimately the submission, although he was quick to cover it with bravado and nervous anger.

"I'm not doing it," he hissed before storming from the house.

Klaus smirked, he did not need a witch to tell him what was going to happen next. It was clear that regardless of how hard Tyler was trying to fight the need to impress his sire, the need was still present. All there was left to do was to wait. It was a test after all. Whether Tyler passed or not was yet to be seen. He was well aware of the terms that it would take in order to break or bypass a sire bond or even compulsion and to be honest, he did not think Tyler had what it took to do just that.

By ten o'clock that evening, Klaus was beginning to question whether or not he had been wrong. He was never wrong, but it had been well over twelve hours since he had made his demand of Tyler and he had still not received confirmation of the tasks completion. He was beginning to pace a hole in the floor when his phone began to ring and he knew he had bet on the right horse. He was surprised to see Damon's name on the caller identification, but he answered none the less. He opened his mouth to say hello, but before the words could get out, Damon hissed at him.

"_I'm going to kill Lockwood, you want to help?" _

"On my way, Mate," he chirped into the phone, much too happy given the current, but his test of the bond seemed to be paying off in his favor. Grabbing his coat, he headed for the door and towards the Salvatore Boarding house to fix _Tyler's_ mistake.

**Chapter Two – Look After You**

_**If I don't say this now, I will surely break as I'm leaving the one I want to take. Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait. My heart has started to separate. There now, steady love, so few come and don't go. Will you, won't you be the one I always know? When I'm losing my control, the city spins around. You're the only one who knows, you slow it down. I'll look after you.**_

_ Klaus was never one to take no for an answer, in fact it was not a word the vampire heard often if ever. That's precisely why he compelled the bartender at the bar to call him the second his pretty little blonde walked through the door to that bar. Caroline had seemed too familiar with the bar to have simply walked in on a whim and sure enough, he was correct. Two weeks went by without much of a whisper and then one night as Klaus prepared to leave his compelled brownstone for an evening of hunting, the phone rang. _

_ "This had better be important," Klaus grumbled into the phone, pinning it between his head and shoulder as he fiddled with the cufflink on his shirt._

_ "She's here." The line went dead. Klaus slowly set the phone back on the cradle as he mentally tallied his options. He was the most powerful vampire in the world and he was compelling bartenders to feed him information about this girl. A silly, little, insignificant blonde who had done nothing but haunt his dreams and consume his thoughts since he first laid eyes on her. This would not do. He needed to do something about her. He could use her. He would head to the bar, get whatever information he could about Katherine out of her, and then he would dispose of her. If she was dead, he would once again regain control of his thoughts. Klaus liked control and if Caroline threatened that, then she would have to go, no matter how smooth her legs looked or how long her lashes appeared. No silly little blonde was going to get in the way of his revenge._

_ He smoothed his fingers through his hair before ducking out of the Gold Coast row home. Smirking to himself at the stares from passersby as he walked down the snowy street in a thin dress shirt, he probably could have tried to fit in a little better, but he could not be bothered by human opinions. Once he reached the small, hole-in-the-wall establishment, he stepped inside, scanning the room until he spotted the blonde he was searching for seated at the bar in a much more demure dress than he had seen her in the first time he had met her. _

_ "Fancy seeing you here," he spoke, sliding into the stool next to her, his accent thick as he turned to the bartender, "Whiskey, neat," he told him noticing Caroline roll her eyes out of the corner of his own. _

_ "Make that two," she added, crossing and uncrossing her legs as she shifted away from him._

_ "So no big brother bodyguard this evening.."_

_ "Caroline," she filled in the space, "And no, he made other arrangements this evening and I didn't feel like spending the night pulling a pillow over my head to drown out the ungodly noises so I thought I would come here." _

_ He chuckled, her bluntness only proved to amuse him more. "Well, I don't blame you, I can't say I would want to be anywhere near the house if my sister was doing something of an unsavory nature." He shook his head, tossing some papers down on the counter to cover their drinks. _

_ Caroline opened her mouth to protest him paying for her drink, but quickly closed it again upon realizing she did not have any money on her. Chicago was not a city up to date on their vervain, the need to carry money around had never been present there, but she could not exactly compel the bartender in front of the man sitting next to her. She sighed, deciding just for this one drink she would allow him to keep her company. "Thank you," she finally forced out. _

_ "Klaus," he added, unable to wipe the smirk from his lips. _

_ "Well, thank you for the drink, Klaus," she repeated, looking over at him. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the smirk that so proudly adorned his face. It seemed to be a constant fixture, at least during the two times she had seen the man. "So what made you think Damon was my brother? We look nothing alike, he could have easily been my boyfriend or husband. You seemed to jump to a rather interesting conclusion."_

_ "Lucky guess," he lied, reaching for his glass and taking a long sip before diving into further explanation without giving away how much he did know about her. He could tell by the look on her face she would not be satisfied with the answer he had given. "I heard you two fighting, it didn't exactly sound like a lover's quarrel."_

_ Her eyes widened when he mentioned that he had overheard them fighting. She had mentioned things that had not meant to be overheard. Things that would not make any sense to someone who knew nothing of supernatural world, but if he knew anything at all about vampires, they had probably revealed themselves. _

_ He could read the panic written all over her face, deciding that now was as good a time as any to get the information he had come for. His hands moved to cup her face gently, looking into her eyes. "Tell me everything you know about Katherine Pierce and her whereabouts," he commanded quietly, his eyes flickering with compulsion. He waited patiently for her to begin spilling all of the intimate details of her experiences with Katherine, but Caroline seemed to be a never ending bag of surprises. She never seemed to do what he expected her to do. Instead of divulging the information, she began to laugh, hysterically in fact. The blonde did nothing but confuse him. _

_ "Are you new at this?" she asked once she had managed to calm the giggles, reaching for her drink. Keeping her voice down, she turned to him once again. "Vampire 101, you can't compel other vampires. How long have you been one?"_

_ Klaus was baffled to say the least. He had never encountered a vampire who his compulsion did not work on and there was only one solution. She was on vervain, but the real question was why. Why would a seemingly average vampire feel the need and endure the pain of ingesting vervain? Clearly, there was more to the blonde than she let on. He pondered her question for a moment, trying to decide what kind of answer he wanted to give her. He could play into her assumption, go along with the charade that he was a baby vampire, it was almost a laughable accusation. "About twelve hundred years," he answered, deciding in this case, honesty might get him further than deception. Losing the ability to simply compel her had thrown him for a moment, but he had landed on his feet, the wheels quickly turning in his head as he formatted a new plan. _

_ "Why do you want to know about Katherine?" she asked, her previous ferocity returning to her voice. The smirk returned to his lips, she did not take long to bounce back at all and he admired that._

_ "Katherine did something a long time ago and I have _questions,_" he said, before adding as an afterthought, "Questions only Katherine can answer."_

_ "Well, unfortunately, you aren't going to get those answers. You are about sixty years too late on that one, I'm afraid. Katherine was burned alive with about thirty other vampires in 1864." Klaus could detect a hint of sadness in her voice, but there was something else, something he could not quite put his finger on. He knew that what she said was not true. Katherine was very much still alive and well, gallivanting around the world in her never ending game of hide and go seek. It was getting old really, chasing her around the world, narrowly missing her every time he got close, but catching her was inevitable. Katherine was good at hiding, but he was better at seeking. He was better at everything. Despite the fact that Caroline was very much wrong about Katherine's fate, something told him that she was telling the truth, at least her truth. He got the feeling that Caroline had no idea her sire and would-be mentor was alive. _

_ "Well that's unfortunate," he said, simply. _

_ "Maybe I could fill in some of the blanks for you, but first I have some questions." As he nodded in agreement to her request, she reached for her drink, taking a lazy sip of it as she formatted a list of questions in her head. Caroline Salvatore was nothing if not thorough and if he was giving her free range to ask questions, she was going to milk it for all it was worth. _

_ "How about an answer for an answer?" he countered._

_ "I think I can agree to those terms." She nodded, trying to decide which of the many questions she had she would lead with. "If you have really been a vampire for twelve hundred years, why would you try to compel me? You should know better than that."_

_ "I'm a special kind of vampire. I can compel other vampires," he stated without offering much information. Caroline was different, but he still preferred not to allow many others to become privy to his original status. "Your turn, why can't I compel you?" _

_ "Well, assuming it's the same reason some humans can't be compelled, it's because I'm on vervain. I come from a town that's been plagued by vampires since it's founding. Vervain is a way of life and my brother and I decided a long time ago that we didn't want to be slave to it's power over us. We've been drinking it every day since. It doesn't burn anymore going down, it can still hurt us, but it takes a lot." _

_ He was impressed; some vampires were unaware of just how much vervain could affect them, but Caroline and her brother seemed to be manipulating the system. She continued to baffle and intrigue him. She was smart and seemingly resourceful; he imagined that some of Katherine had rubbed off on the blonde during her time with her. He had every intention of ending this evening disposing of her greyed body, but now he found himself enamored by her very existence. This night was proving to be far different than he could have ever imagined. _

|Lost in a Memory|

Klaus did not waste any time getting over to the Salvatore Boarding House, the idea of Caroline suffering did not sit well with him even if it was doubtful she was feeling any real effects yet aside from some minor discomfort. He had no plans of taking ownership of that action, even if some of it was on him. It was a test though. He needed to be mindful of that, because guilt was not an emotion he would allow himself to feel. Not again.

Not bothered with the concept of knocking, Klaus opened the door and invited himself into the house. The invitation had been long standing and lucky for him these things were irrevocable. He could hear voices coming from down the hallway; one livid, ranting and raving about stupidity and danger before hearing a glass shatter against the wall, causing Klaus to pick up his pace a little. The other voice was small, but ferocious, it sounded familiar to him, but it wasn't Caroline. Finding his way down the hallway, he wandered into a room and was immediately met by three pairs of eyes.

"Who let you in?" Elena asked, an eyebrow arching as she looked at him incredulously. Bonnie quickly joined in on the staring contest Elena had entered into with him before Damon waved his hand wanting to end this before it turned into a fight, not when his sister's life was on the line.

"I called him," he offered up. The two women's confused expressions quickly turned to him, waiting for him to deliver some kind of explanation as to why he would call the homicidal hybrid to help during this situation. "He's fifteen hundred years old, I thought there might be a possibility that he knew how to fix this."

"And I do, but let's begin with what happened, shall we?" Klaus asked, crossing his arms as he leaned into the doorway.

"We were at the cemetery drinking with her. She and Tyler went off in the woods.." Elena trailed off, not wanting to paint that picture for Damon. "A few minutes later, we heard her scream and Tyler started yelling for us. He took off as soon as we got to her-"

"Like the little shit that he is," Damon interrupted.

"And why exactly were you drinking in a cemetery? I know you all make up the complete list of things that go bump in the night, but don't you think you are taking it a little far?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Caroline hates her birthday, we were just trying to cheer her up," Elena defended, shooting him a daggered look.

He mentally berated himself the second the words came out of her mouth, having completely forgotten it was Caroline's birthday. His hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "So where is she now? What condition is she in?"

"_Damon.."_ They all winced at the intruding voice that carried softly down the hallway.

"Go see for yourself," Damon said grimly. "Third door on your left up the stairs. Bring her some blood." He tossed him a blood bag before Klaus walked out of the room and headed up the stairs. Finding his way up the stairs, he counted doors until he found the bedroom Damon had referred to, finding the door slightly ajar. He pushed it open and took in her appearance. She was pale and clammy, her body shivering under the covers, it was unlike anything he had seen before. The large bed seemed to consume her tiny, frail body. He hated seeing her like this. He was quick to cross the room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and looking down at her.

"Nik.." she whispered, her face lighting up a bit when she looked up at him. He stared at her, more confused than he had ever been. She hadn't called him Nik since 1923, no one had. Nik died the day he left her and Klaus was born. The evil sadistic hybrid that cared about nothing but making hybrids and tearing out the heart of anyone that dared to get in his way. "You came," she added, looking up at him like he was the sun and the moon, "I was worried you would get caught up with the werewolf problem on the Southside." That's when it hit him. Werewolf bites induced fever, bloodlust, aches, chills, and _hallucinations. _He had a crucial decision to make. A large part of him wanted to buy into the fantasy; to close the door and crawl into bed with her, hold her close like he had not been able to in nearly a century, but he knew he could not. He could steal those moments for tonight, but that's exactly they would be, stolen and meaningless. They would be completely forgotten by the blonde the best morning and he would lose her all over again.

"I'm here," he said simply, picking up a glass from the nightstand and refilling it with blood. He briefly considered letting her bite his wrist and take his healing blood straight from the source, selfishly wanting to feel her lips on his skin. Deciding against it, he bit into his wrist and allowed the blood to drip down into the glass. "Drink this, Love." He placed the glass into her hand and gently helped her sit up, sweeping the damp, blonde curls away from her face as she began to drink the blood. "That a girl." He set the glass back on the nightstand when she had finished, beginning to move from the bed before feeling a tiny hand wrap weakly around his wrist.

"Don't go," she pleaded softly. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes before leaning back against the headboard against his better judgment. Looking down, he watched as the blonde head found his way to his chest wondering how he got himself into this situation.

Klaus waited until she fell asleep before carefully slipping out from beside her. She hadn't taken more than ten minutes to fall asleep, her body exhausted from the bite and healing process. He closed the door behind him before walking back down to the stairs where Damon was waiting for him with an expectant look on his face. "She'll be fine by morning," The Original informed him before pouring himself a glass of bourdon and dropping down into one of the stiff arm chairs.

"What did you do?" Damon asked.

"My blood cures werewolf bites," he explained, examining the amber liquid in his glass before taking a long drink. "Sometimes having me on call comes in handy."

"You weren't exactly on call for me," Damon pointed out, fixing his own glass. "I still have to deal with Lockwood," he all bit hissed, downing the contents of his glass as if they were water.

"Why don't you let me? I have the perfect solution really," Klaus offered, the wheels already turning in his twisted mind.

Damon waved his hand, "Better she continue hating you than me." The statement earned him a glare from the hybrid sitting across from him. "Come on, don't give me that look. Your choices, not mine." Damon held his hands up innocently before setting the now empty glass on the table. "I have to go tell Bonnie and Elena to stop pacing holes in the floor."

Klaus watched him walk out of the room before leaning back into his chair, swirling the liquid around his glass once again. The memory of blonde hair settling messily on his chest was still fresh in his mind and he was unable to shake it. It was taking most of his resolve not to make his way back up those stairs to her bedroom and for an impulsive man it was difficult. He sighed heavily, emptiness consumed his bitter heart and his thoughts wandered back to his eternal debate. Tonight proved to give arguments for both sides. He may have caused tonight's actions, but they could have easily happened without his influence. It always came back to the same question, was Caroline really safer without him or was he just torturing himself?

**Chapter Three – Holding On and Letting Go**

_**It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't. It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed. Some prayers find an answer and some prayers never know. We're holding on and letting go. Sometimes we're holding angels and we never even know. Don't know if we'll make it but we know we just can't let it show.**_

_ "So explain to me again why exactly I should go out with you?" Caroline asked as a small smirk began to play on her lips. Admittedly she was teasing him a little, but that was half their fun. Klaus twirled her around the dance floor and pulled her back to him, holding her close to his chest. They seemed to find themselves at the small, hidden bar more nights than not. Sometimes Rebekah or Damon would join them and sometimes they came alone, but they always ended up there. Even if they would both deny it if their siblings asked, they would always look for each other. It was their little game. He was the predator and she was the prey, although Caroline took pride in blurring those lines to the point where Klaus had trouble deciphering who was pursuing who on occasion, which only made him fancy her more._

_ "Because we enjoy each other's company," Klaus pointed out. "Caroline, I will not beg you to step out with me. It's a simple yes or no. Then we move on." The centuries old vampire may have developed some form of affection for the blonde, but he would sooner launch himself at a white oak branch than beg anyone for anything, no matter how much he may have desired it._

_ "Maybe," she finally replied, spinning out away from him as the tempo of the music picked up._

_ "Maybe?" he asked incredulously. He was not sure he would ever understand how she could both occupy the position of most frustrating creature on the planet and the most intriguing thing he had come across in centuries. It truly baffled him._

_ "Well, I need to think about it. This is a big decision. I can't just be all willy-nilly who I step out with. I'll get a reputation." She winked at him, concealing a small smirk as he pulled her back to his chest. _

_ "Yes or no, Caroline," he stated once again, the patience in his voice wearing thin as her little game proceeded._

_ "No." _

_ "No?" _

_ "No, you cannot take me out." Klaus opened his mouth to protest her decision, but Caroline cut him off to continue her thought. "But I will allow you to step out with me," she counter offered and he was truly baffled._

_ "Isn't it traditional for the man to do the arranging and guiding when it comes to these types of things, Caroline?" he questioned, stunned by her request. No one ever questioned him. He did not allow anyone to question him and live to tell about it, but it was only further proof that Caroline was different and he had yet to determine if he liked that or not. _

_ "Nik, we are vampires. Nothing about us is traditional or normal, so why would we be required to conform to the social normalcies of humans? It seems a bit off to me, don't you agree?" she asked, the small smirk playing on her lips. It was obvious to Klaus that she was quite proud of herself for rendering him speechless, but what threw him off was the nickname she had bestowed upon him. No one aside from his sister had ever referred to him as anything other than Klaus and her level of comfort with 'Nik' surprised him. She looked down, catching sight of his pocket watch. "What time can I pick you up tomorrow evening?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she began to detach herself from him._

_ "I'll see you at five o'clock, Ms. Salvatore," he finally conceded to her plans. "Down the avenue. Large brownstone on the corner of Lock and Haven."_

_ "I'll see you at five, Nik." Caroline waved before disappearing out from the small hidden entrance of the blind pig. _

| Lost in a Memory |

"_How exactly do you intend on 'taking care' of Lockwood? I really don't need the mayor breathing down my neck after she finds her son's heart ripped out next to his lifeless body on the bedroom floor and I really don't want to deal with Caroline watching The Notebook three hundred times and crying for the next month," _Damon asked, pressing the phone against his ear. Klaus questioned the awkward friendship the two of them had formed out of their mutual goal of keeping Caroline safe, although Klaus often wondered how far that friendship would extend in either direction if another incident like what had occurred with Elena came about.

"Oh, I have better plans and it appears he is going to play right into them. I have to go," Klaus pulled the phone away from his ear and shoved it back down into his pocket and Tyler barged in the front door.

"What the hell do you want from me?" he demanded. The anger in his voice was nearly laughable to the original hybrid. "Biting Caroline? She won't even talk to me now, even after I told her you made me."

"I did not make you do anything, Mate. You made that choice all on your own," Klaus was more than happy to point out to him. "I'm sorry to hear about the trouble in paradise, but I can't say I'm surprised." He did not bother to conceal the smirk on his face at the thought of Caroline pushing him away from him. He caught Tyler's wrist as he made an attempt at hitting him. He had found that his newly turned hybrids had trouble controlling their outbursts and Tyler was a prime example of that. Tyler recoiled, yanking his wrist away from his hand.

"Fuck you, Klaus. Fuck your hybrids. Fuck your sire bond. Fuck you," he hissed before storming out of the house and firing up his car. That couldn't have gone better if he had planned it himself. Not only did Caroline now despise the little twerp, but Tyler would soon be out of his hair for a while. Two birds, one stone.

He didn't have to wait long for confirmation of what he was already certain. The blonde hair blurred into his house so quickly, he almost thought Rebekah has been unstaked until Caroline stopped in front of him

"Hello Caroline," he spoke, "and to what do I owe this pleasure? You seem to be healing nicely."

"You saved my life," she stated in an unsure tone.

"A simple thank you would suffice, Ms. Salvatore. Although coming over in person does add a certain personal touch that I, for one, am appreciative of," Klaus spoke, turning towards the bar to conceal his smirk as he poured himself a drink, offering her one. She paused for a moment before turning it down and refocusing on what her mission was.

"Oh yes, thank you for ordering my boyfriend to bite me for my one hundred and sixty-fifth birthday. Lying in bed hallucinating and writhing in pain was exactly how I wanted to spend it. It was a dream come true, really." She crossed her arms over her chest, one heel taping on the wood floor. "Why would you tell him to bite me? Just to save my life? Damon told me you came over and gave me your blood. Is this some kind of weird hero complex? There was a Criminal Minds episode about this. You need help in case you were wondering." Her ramblings always amused him. It was good to see some things never changed.

"I was simply testing my sire bond on my hybrids. It was Tyler's turn to step of to the proverbial plate. Collateral damage, I'm afraid," he said, motioning to the bandage on her neck. Her hand instinctively moved to it. "Why are you still wearing that by the way? My blood should have completely healed that nasty little bite your dog delivered."

Caroline ignored him completely, "Tyler left town because of you. I loved him and he's gone, trying to release himself from his sire bond so he doesn't hurt me again because of you," she spat, the volume of the venom in her words shocking even him.

"He can try, but he won't succeed. Distance is the only way to break it. Making it dormant, I'm afraid," Klaus told her, remaining calm even though her love confession for Tyler made his blood boil. A better man may have seen her happiness and walked away but Klaus could not. Caroline's light always seemed to pull him in.

"He doesn't love you, you know," he said quietly, just loud enough for her to hear. He paused for a moment, letting the words sink in with no immediate opposition from her. He could tell by the look on her face that it was a possibility she had considered, but her wall went up quickly. The look of confusion quickly replaced with one of defiance, so he decided at that moment to continue. "There are only two things stronger than a sire command. Compulsion, although a compulsed man would tear himself in two if compelled and sired."

"And what is the other?" Caroline asked, offering a much softer tone. One that told Klaus she was already knew the answer.

"Love. There's a reason love is a vampire's greatest weakness. In some ways, love can even overcome compulsion. It's certainly stronger than a sire bond. If Tyler truly loved you, there's no way he would be able to harm you." He wore a satisfied smirk as he saw the stunned look on her face, knowing his words had landed exactly the way he had intended them.

"You're wrong," she told him defiantly.

"who do you think knows more about these things, Sweetheart? You or me?" He asked, moving closer to her, his fingers grazing her arm as he spoke. "Tyler is a werewolf, first and foremost. He's also eighteen years old. Boys like that, boys like _Tyler_ only want pretty little blondes for one thing and it does not start with 'L'. You are simply an object, a conquest, a blonde play thing, and a notch on his proverbial bedpost. Although with Tyler's attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually notched the wood when he was through. You simply have the added bonus of being indestructible so he doesn't have a body to clean up in the morning if he gets too rough. That's all you'll ever be to him, Caroline." His eyes seared into her while he spoke. The angry tears welled up in her eyes before Klaus has a chance to stop himself from pushing too much. He could tell he struck a cord when she stormed from the house in a way that only she could. Only Caroline could made anger look beautiful as she disappeared in a flurry of blonde curls.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – Look After You**

_**If I don't say this now, I will surely break as I'm leaving the one I want to take. Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait. My heart has started to separate. There now, steady love, so few come and don't go. Will you, won't you be the one I always know? When I'm losing my control, the city spins around. You're the only one who knows, you slow it down. I'll look after you.**_

_ Klaus was never one to take no for an answer, in fact it was not a word the vampire heard often if ever. That's precisely why he compelled the bartender at the bar to call him the second his pretty little blonde walked through the door to that bar. Caroline had seemed too familiar with the bar to have simply walked in on a whim and sure enough, he was correct. Two weeks went by without much of a whisper and then one night as Klaus prepared to leave his compelled brownstone for an evening of hunting, the phone rang. _

_ "This had better be important," Klaus grumbled into the phone, pinning it between his head and shoulder as he fiddled with the cufflink on his shirt._

_ "She's here." The line went dead. Klaus slowly set the phone back on the cradle as he mentally tallied his options. He was the most powerful vampire in the world and he was compelling bartenders to feed him information about this girl. A silly, little, insignificant blonde who had done nothing but haunt his dreams and consume his thoughts since he first laid eyes on her. This would not do. He needed to do something about her. He could use her. He would head to the bar, get whatever information he could about Katherine out of her, and then he would dispose of her. If she were dead, he would once again regain control of his thoughts. Klaus liked control and if Caroline threatened that, then she would have to go, no matter how smooth her legs looked or how long her lashes appeared. No silly little blonde was going to get in the way of his revenge._

_ He smoothed his fingers through his hair before ducking out of the Gold Coast row home. Smirking to himself at the stares from passersby as he walked down the snowy street in a thin dress shirt, he probably could have tried to fit in a little better, but he could not be bothered by human opinions. Once he reached the small, hole-in-the-wall establishment, he stepped inside, scanning the room until he spotted the blonde he was searching for seated at the bar in a much more demure dress than he had seen her in the first time he had met her. _

_ "Fancy seeing you here," he spoke, sliding into the stool next to her, his accent thick as he turned to the bartender, "Whiskey, neat," he told him noticing Caroline roll her eyes out of the corner of his own. _

_ "Make that two," she added, crossing and uncrossing her legs as she shifted away from him._

_ "So no big brother bodyguard this evening.."_

_ "Caroline," she filled in the space, "And no, he made other arrangements this evening and I didn't feel like spending the night pulling a pillow over my head to drown out the ungodly noises so I thought I would come here." _

_ He chuckled, her bluntness only proved to amuse him more. "Well, I don't blame you, I can't say I would want to be anywhere near the house if my sister was doing something of an unsavory nature." He shook his head, tossing some papers down on the counter to cover their drinks. _

_ Caroline opened her mouth to protest him paying for her drink, but quickly closed it again upon realizing she did not have any money on her. Chicago was not a city up to date on their vervain, the need to carry money around had never been present there, but she could not exactly compel the bartender in front of the man sitting next to her. She sighed, deciding just for this one drink she would allow him to keep her company. "Thank you," she finally forced out. _

_ "Klaus," he added, unable to wipe the smirk from his lips. _

_ "Well, thank you for the drink, Klaus," she repeated, looking over at him. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the smirk that so proudly adorned his face. It seemed to be a constant fixture, at least during the two times she had seen the man. "So what made you think Damon was my brother? We look nothing alike, he could have easily been my boyfriend or husband. You seemed to jump to a rather interesting conclusion."_

_ "Lucky guess," he lied, reaching for his glass and taking a long sip before diving into further explanation without giving away how much he did know about her. He could tell by the look on her face she would not be satisfied with the answer he had given. "I heard you two fighting, it didn't exactly sound like a lover's quarrel."_

_ Her eyes widened when he mentioned that he had overheard them fighting. She had mentioned things that had not meant to be overheard. Things that would not make any sense to someone who knew nothing of supernatural world, but if he knew anything at all about vampires, they had probably revealed themselves. _

_ He could read the panic written all over her face, deciding that now was as good a time as any to get the information he had come for. His hands moved to cup her face gently, looking into her eyes. "Tell me everything you know about Katherine Pierce and her whereabouts," he commanded quietly, his eyes flickering with compulsion. He waited patiently for her to begin spilling all of the intimate details of her experiences with Katherine, but Caroline seemed to be a never ending supply of surprises. She never seemed to do what he expected her to do. Instead of divulging the information, she began to laugh, hysterically in fact. The blonde did nothing but confuse him. _

_ "Are you new at this?" she asked once she had managed to calm the giggles, reaching for her drink. Keeping her voice down, she turned to him once again. "Vampire 101, you can't compel other vampires. How long have you been one?"_

_ Klaus was baffled to say the least. He had never encountered a vampire who his compulsion did not work on and there was only one solution. She was on vervain, but the real question was why. Why would a seemingly average vampire feel the need and endure the pain of ingesting vervain? Clearly, there was more to the blonde than she let on. He pondered her question for a moment, trying to decide what kind of answer he wanted to give her. He could play into her assumption, go along with the charade that he was a baby vampire, it was almost a laughable accusation. "About twelve hundred years," he answered, deciding in this case, honesty might get him further than deception. Losing the ability to simply compel her had thrown him for a moment, but he had landed on his feet, the wheels quickly turning in his head as he formatted a new plan. _

_ "Why do you want to know about Katherine?" she asked, her previous ferocity returning to her voice. The smirk returned to his lips, she did not take long to bounce back at all and he admired that._

_ "Katherine did something a long time ago and I have _questions,_" he said, before adding as an afterthought, "Questions only Katherine can answer."_

_ "Well, unfortunately, you aren't going to get those answers. You are about sixty years too late on that one, I'm afraid. Katherine was burned alive with about thirty other vampires in 1864." Klaus could detect a hint of sadness in her voice, but there was something else, something he could not quite put his finger on. He knew that what she said was not true. Katherine was very much still alive and well, gallivanting around the world in her never ending game of hide and go seek. It was getting old really, chasing her around the world, narrowly missing her every time he got close, but catching her was inevitable. Katherine was good at hiding, but he was better at seeking. He was better at everything. Despite the fact that Caroline was very much wrong about Katherine's fate, something told him that she was telling the truth, at least her truth. He got the feeling that Caroline had no idea her sire and would-be mentor was alive. _

_ "Well that's unfortunate," he said, simply. _

_ "Maybe I could fill in some of the blanks for you, but first I have some questions." As he nodded in agreement to her request, she reached for her drink, taking a lazy sip of it as she formatted a list of questions in her head. Caroline Salvatore was nothing if not thorough and if he was giving her free range to ask questions, she was going to milk it for all it was worth. _

_ "How about an answer for an answer?" he countered._

_ "I think I can agree to those terms." She nodded, trying to decide which of the many questions she had she would lead with. "If you have really been a vampire for twelve hundred years, why would you try to compel me? You should know better than that."_

_ "I'm a special kind of vampire. I can compel other vampires," he stated without offering much information. Caroline was different, but he still preferred not to allow many others to become privy to his original status. "Your turn, why can't I compel you?" _

_ "Well, assuming it's the same reason some humans can't be compelled, it's because I'm on vervain. I come from a town that's been plagued by vampires since it's founding. Vervain is a way of life and my brother and I decided a long time ago that we didn't want to be slave to it's power over us. We've been drinking it every day since. It doesn't burn anymore going down, it can still hurt us, but it takes a lot." _

_ He was impressed; some vampires were unaware of just how much vervain could affect them, but Caroline and her brother seemed to be manipulating the system. She continued to baffle and intrigue him. She was smart and seemingly resourceful; he imagined that some of Katherine had rubbed off on the blonde during her time with her. He had every intention of ending this evening disposing of her greyed body, but now he found himself enamored by her very existence. This night was proving to be far different than he could have ever imagined. _

|Lost in a Memory|

Klaus did not waste any time getting over to the Salvatore Boarding House, the idea of Caroline suffering did not sit well with him even if it was doubtful she was feeling any real effects yet aside from some minor discomfort. He had no plans of taking ownership of that action, even if some of it was on him. It was a test though. He needed to be mindful of that, because guilt was not an emotion he would allow himself to feel. Not again.

Not bothered with the concept of knocking, Klaus opened the door and invited himself into the house. The invitation had been long standing and lucky for him these things were irrevocable. He could hear voices coming from down the hallway; one livid, ranting and raving about stupidity and danger before hearing a glass shatter against the wall, causing Klaus to pick up his pace a little. The other voice was small, but ferocious, it sounded familiar to him, but it wasn't Caroline. Finding his way down the hallway, he wandered into a room and was immediately met by three pairs of eyes.

"Who let you in?" Elena asked, an eyebrow arching as she looked at him incredulously. Bonnie quickly joined in on the staring contest Elena had entered into with him before Damon waved his hand wanting to end this before it turned into a fight, not when his sister's life was on the line.

"I called him," he offered up. The two women's confused expressions quickly turned to him, waiting for him to deliver some kind of explanation as to why he would call the homicidal hybrid to help during this situation. "He's fifteen hundred years old, I thought there might be a possibility that he knew how to fix this."

"And I do, but let's begin with what happened, shall we?" Klaus asked, crossing his arms as he leaned into the doorway.

"We were at the cemetery drinking with her. She and Tyler went off in the woods.." Elena trailed off, not wanting to paint that picture for Damon. "A few minutes later, we heard her scream and Tyler started yelling for us. He took off as soon as we got to her-"

"Like the little shit that he is," Damon interrupted.

"And why exactly were you drinking in a cemetery? I know you all make up the complete list of things that go bump in the night, but don't you think you are taking it a little far?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Caroline hates her birthday, we were just trying to cheer her up," Elena defended, shooting him a daggered look.

He mentally berated himself the second the words came out of her mouth, having completely forgotten it was Caroline's birthday. His hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "So where is she now? What condition is she in?"

"_Damon.."_ They all winced at the intruding voice that carried softly down the hallway.

"Go see for yourself," Damon said grimly. "Third door on your left up the stairs. Bring her some blood." He tossed him a blood bag before Klaus walked out of the room and headed up the stairs. Finding his way up the stairs, he counted doors until he found the bedroom Damon had referred to, finding the door slightly ajar. He pushed it open and took in her appearance. She was pale and clammy, her body shivering under the covers, it was unlike anything he had seen before. The large bed seemed to consume her tiny, frail body. He hated seeing her like this. He was quick to cross the room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and looking down at her.

"Nik.." she whispered, her face lighting up a bit when she looked up at him. He stared at her, more confused than he had ever been. She hadn't called him Nik since 1923, no one had. Nik died the day he left her and Klaus was born. The evil sadistic vampire that cared about nothing but making hybrids and tearing out the heart of anyone that dared to get in his way. "You came," she added, looking up at him like he was the sun and the moon, "I was worried you would get caught up with the werewolf problem on the Southside." That's when it hit him. Werewolf bites induced fever, bloodlust, aches, chills, and _hallucinations. _He had a crucial decision to make. A large part of him wanted to buy into the fantasy; to close the door and crawl into bed with her, hold her close like he had not been able to in nearly a century, but he knew he could not. He could steal those moments for tonight, but that's exactly they would be, stolen and meaningless. They would be completely forgotten by the blonde the next morning and he would lose her all over again.

"I'm here," he said simply, picking up a glass from the nightstand and refilling it with blood. He briefly considered letting her bite his wrist and take his healing blood straight from the source, selfishly wanting to feel her lips on his skin. Deciding against it, he bit into his wrist and allowed the blood to drip down into the glass. "Drink this, Love." He placed the glass into her hand and gently helped her sit up, sweeping the damp, blonde curls away from her face as she began to drink the blood. "That a girl." He set the glass back on the nightstand when she had finished, beginning to move from the bed before feeling a tiny hand wrap weakly around his wrist.

"Don't go," she pleaded softly. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes before leaning back against the headboard against his better judgment. Looking down, he watched as the blonde head found his way to his chest wondering how he got himself into this situation.

Klaus waited until she fell asleep before carefully slipping out from beside her. She hadn't taken more than ten minutes to fall asleep, her body exhausted from the bite and healing process. He closed the door behind him before walking back down to the stairs where Damon was waiting for him with an expectant look on his face. "She'll be fine by morning," The Original informed him before pouring himself a glass of bourdon and dropping down into one of the stiff arm chairs.

"What did you do?" Damon asked.

"My blood cures werewolf bites," he explained, examining the amber liquid in his glass before taking a long drink. "Sometimes having me on call comes in handy."

"You weren't exactly on call for me," Damon pointed out, fixing his own glass. "I still have to deal with Lockwood," he all bit hissed, downing the contents of his glass as if they were water.

"Why don't you let me? I have the perfect solution really," Klaus offered, the wheels already turning in his twisted mind.

Damon waved his hand, "Better she continue hating you than me." The statement earned him a glare from the hybrid sitting across from him. "Come on, don't give me that look. Your choices, not mine." Damon held his hands up innocently before setting the now empty glass on the table. "I have to go tell Bonnie and Elena to stop pacing holes in the floor."

Klaus watched him walk out of the room before leaning back into his chair, swirling the liquid around his glass once again. The memory of blonde hair settling messily on his chest was still fresh in his mind and he was unable to shake it. It was taking most of his resolve not to make his way back up those stairs to her bedroom and for an impulsive man that was difficult. He sighed heavily, emptiness consumed his bitter heart and his thoughts wandered back to his eternal debate. Tonight proved to give arguments for both sides. He may have caused tonight's actions, but they could have easily happened without his influence. It always came back to the same question, was Caroline really safer without him or was he just torturing himself?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to get up. I had it completely finished a week ago when my computer decided to restart without auto-saving and I lost everything. Unfortunately, I was on vacation out of the country last week so I couldn't get to re-writing it until this week, but now it's done and edited. It's a little bit shorter than normal, but the next one is longer or will be, I promise. **

**Chapter Three – Holding On and Letting Go**

_**It's everything you wanted, it's everything you don't. It's one door swinging open and one door swinging closed. Some prayers find an answer and some prayers never know. We're holding on and letting go. Sometimes we're holding angels and we never even know. Don't know if we'll make it but we know we just can't let it show.**_

_ "So explain to me again why exactly I should go out with you?" Caroline asked as a small smirk began to play on her lips. Admittedly she was teasing him a little, but that was half their fun. Klaus twirled her around the dance floor and pulled her back to him, holding her close to his chest. They seemed to find themselves at the small, hidden bar more nights than not. Sometimes Rebekah or Damon would join them and sometimes they came alone, but they always ended up there. Even if they would both deny it if their siblings asked, they would always look for each other. It was their little game. He was the predator and she was the prey, although Caroline took pride in blurring those lines to the point where Klaus had trouble deciphering who was pursuing who on occasion, which only made him fancy her more._

_ "Because we enjoy each other's company," Klaus pointed out. "Caroline, I will not beg you to step out with me. It's a simple yes or no. Then we move on." The centuries old vampire may have developed some form of affection for the blonde, but he would sooner launch himself at a white oak branch than beg anyone for anything, no matter how much he may have desired it._

_ "Maybe," she finally replied, spinning out away from him as the tempo of the music picked up._

_ "Maybe?" he asked incredulously. He was not sure he would ever understand how she could both occupy the position of most frustrating creature on the planet and the most intriguing thing he had come across in centuries. It truly baffled him._

_ "Well, I need to think about it. This is a big decision. I can't just be all willy-nilly who I step out with. I'll get a reputation." She winked at him, concealing a small smirk as he pulled her back to his chest. _

_ "Yes or no, Caroline," he stated once again, the patience in his voice wearing thin as her little game proceeded._

_ "No." _

_ "No?" _

_ "No, you cannot take me out." Klaus opened his mouth to protest her decision, but Caroline cut him off to continue her thought. "But I will allow you to step out with me," she counter offered and he was truly baffled._

_ "Isn't it traditional for the man to do the arranging and guiding when it comes to these types of things, Caroline?" he questioned, stunned by her request. No one ever questioned him. He did not allow anyone to question him and live to tell about it, but it was only further proof that Caroline was different and he had yet to determine if he liked that or not. _

_ "Nik, we are vampires. Nothing about us is traditional or normal, so why would we be required to conform to the social normalcies of humans? It seems a bit off to me, don't you agree?" she asked, the small smirk playing on her lips. It was obvious to Klaus that she was quite proud of herself for rendering him speechless, but what threw him off was the nickname she had bestowed upon him. No one aside from his sister had ever referred to him as anything other than Klaus and her level of comfort with 'Nik' surprised him. She looked down, catching sight of his pocket watch. "What time can I pick you up tomorrow evening?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she began to detach herself from him._

_ "I'll see you at five o'clock, Ms. Salvatore," he finally conceded to her plans. "Down the avenue. Large brownstone on the corner of Lock and Haven."_

_ "I'll see you at five, Nik." Caroline waved before disappearing out from the small hidden entrance of the blind pig. _

| Lost in a Memory |

"_How exactly do you intend on 'taking care' of Lockwood? I really don't need the mayor breathing down my neck after she finds her son's heart ripped out next to his lifeless body on the bedroom floor and I really don't want to deal with Caroline watching The Notebook three hundred times and crying for the next month," _Damon asked, pressing the phone against his ear. Klaus questioned the awkward friendship the two of them had formed out of their mutual goal of keeping Caroline safe, although Klaus often wondered how far that friendship would extend in either direction if another incident like what had occurred with Elena came about.

"Oh, I have better plans and it appears he is going to play right into them. I have to go," Klaus pulled the phone away from his ear and shoved it back down into his pocket and Tyler barged in the front door.

"What the hell do you want from me?" he demanded. The anger in his voice was nearly laughable to the original hybrid. "Biting Caroline? She won't even talk to me now, even after I told her you made me."

"I did not make you do anything, Mate. You made that choice all on your own," Klaus was more than happy to point out to him. "I'm sorry to hear about the trouble in paradise, but I can't say I'm surprised." He did not bother to conceal the smirk on his face at the thought of Caroline pushing him away from him. He caught Tyler's wrist as he made an attempt at hitting him. He had found that his newly turned hybrids had trouble controlling their outbursts and Tyler was a prime example of that. Tyler recoiled, yanking his wrist away from his hand.

"Fuck you, Klaus. Fuck your hybrids. Fuck your sire bond. Fuck you," he hissed before storming out of the house and firing up his car. That couldn't have gone better if he had planned it himself. Not only did Caroline now despise the little twerp, but Tyler would soon be out of his hair for a while. Two birds, one stone.

He didn't have to wait long for confirmation of what he was already certain. The blonde hair blurred into his house so quickly, he almost thought Rebekah has been unstaked until Caroline stopped in front of him

"Hello Caroline," he spoke, "and to what do I owe this pleasure? You seem to be healing nicely."

"You saved my life," she stated in an unsure tone.

"A simple thank you would suffice, Ms. Salvatore. Although coming over in person does add a certain personal touch that I, for one, am appreciative of," Klaus spoke, turning towards the bar to conceal his smirk as he poured himself a drink, offering her one. She paused for a moment before turning it down and refocusing on what her mission was.

"Oh yes, thank you for ordering my boyfriend to bite me for my one hundred and sixty-fifth birthday. Lying in bed hallucinating and writhing in pain was exactly how I wanted to spend it. It was a dream come true, really." She crossed her arms over her chest, one heel taping on the wood floor. "Why would you tell him to bite me? Just to save my life? Damon told me you came over and gave me your blood. Is this some kind of weird hero complex? There was a Criminal Minds episode about this. You need help in case you were wondering." Her ramblings always amused him. It was good to see some things never changed.

"I was simply testing my sire bond on my hybrids. It was Tyler's turn to step of to the proverbial plate. Collateral damage, I'm afraid," he said, motioning to the bandage on her neck. Her hand instinctively moved to it. "Why are you still wearing that by the way? My blood should have completely healed that nasty little bite your dog delivered."

Caroline ignored him completely, "Tyler left town because of you. I loved him and he's gone, trying to release himself from his sire bond so he doesn't hurt me again because of you," she spat, the volume of the venom in her words shocking even him.

"He can try, but he won't succeed. Distance is the only way to break it. Making it dormant, I'm afraid," Klaus told her, remaining calm even though her love confession for Tyler made his blood boil. A better man may have seen her happiness and walked away but Klaus could not. Caroline's light always seemed to pull him in.

"He doesn't love you, you know," he said quietly, just loud enough for her to hear. He paused for a moment, letting the words sink in with no immediate opposition from her. He could tell by the look on her face that it was a possibility she had considered, but her wall went up quickly. The look of confusion quickly replaced with one of defiance, so he decided at that moment to continue. "There are only two things stronger than a sire command. Compulsion, although a compulsed man would tear himself in two if compelled and sired."

"And what is the other?" Caroline asked, offering a much softer tone. One that told Klaus she was already knew the answer.

"Love. There's a reason love is a vampire's greatest weakness. In some ways, love can even overcome compulsion. It's certainly stronger than a sire bond. If Tyler truly loved you, there's no way he would be able to harm you." He wore a satisfied smirk as he saw the stunned look on her face, knowing his words had landed exactly the way he had intended them.

"You're wrong," she told him defiantly.

"who do you think knows more about these things, Sweetheart? You or me?" He asked, moving closer to her, his fingers grazing her arm as he spoke. "Tyler is a werewolf, first and foremost. He's also eighteen years old. Boys like that, boys like _Tyler_ only want pretty little blondes for one thing and it does not start with 'L'. You are simply an object, a conquest, a blonde play thing, and a notch on his proverbial bedpost. Although with Tyler's attitude, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually notched the wood when he was through. You simply have the added bonus of being indestructible so he doesn't have a body to clean up in the morning if he gets too rough. That's all you'll ever be to him, Caroline." His eyes seared into her while he spoke. The angry tears welled up in her eyes before Klaus has a chance to stop himself from pushing too much. He could tell he struck a cord when she stormed from the house in a way that only she could. Only Caroline could made anger look beautiful as she disappeared in a flurry of blonde curls.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four - Strange & Beautiful**

_**I've been watching your world from afar. I've been trying to be where you are. And I've been secretly falling apart, unseen. To me, you're strange and you're beautiful. You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see, you turn every head but you don't see me.**_

_Klaus's eyes flicked up at the clock as he heard it click into place, indicating the hour. He was certain he had never been nervous for anything in his life yet he found himself sitting and watching the clock. As the clock ticked past five, he wondered if she would actually show up. The strategy in her move had not been lost on him. Caroline positioned herself with all the power, not only could she choose not to show up that evening, but he had no idea where to find her otherwise. The blonde could drop off the face of the planet and he would have no idea where to look. The girl was messing with his head more than he would have liked, more than he should have accepted but somehow she got away with it. That only confirmed that, for him, this girl was different. He had killed others for less, yet he found himself nothing but relieved when he heard a small knock on the door at a quarter after five._

"_You're late," Klaus said as he opened the door, a stone expression on his face. _

"_Well, hello to you, too," Caroline mused, raising an eyebrow as she stopped herself from leaning in to kiss his cheek. "Seeing as you were such a stickler for tradition, I thought I would make you more comfortable by taking extra-long to get ready." She smirked to herself as she turned on her heel to head down the steps, the fringe of her dress moving wildly as she hopped down the steps. "Are you joining me or do you plan on brooding from your stoop all evening?" she asked, looking up at him from her spot at the bottom of the stairs. _

"_Where is it we're going exactly?" he asked, meeting her at the bottom of the steps and offering the blonde his arm. He smiled to himself when she took it, enjoying the feeling of her fingers wrapped around his arm._

"_Ah Ah Ah, you are just going to have to wait and see. You are just along for the ride, Nik. I will give you a small hint, more of a fact than a hint. We are going to my favorite place in the city. Not a place I share with everyone. In fact, I've never even taken my brother there, so feel special."_

_And feel special he did, he carefully contained the satisfied smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Alright, Caroline. Lead the way." He watched her smile, feeling her hand glide down his arm towards his hand and began to tug him along. Her secret spot was not far from his townhouse, just a few blocks south of the gold coast and as she pulled him through the door, he began to take it all in. It was a bar, simple enough, several patrons were already sitting in what he could only assume were their regular booths. Everything about it seemed strikingly ordinary. Taking it all in, he was truly baffled at what could make this place so special to Caroline, but after seeing the way her face lit up when they stepped inside made him hold back his initial opinion. Judging by the bartender and waitresses' reactions to her, it was clear that Caroline was a regular here as well._

"_You singing tonight, Ms. Caroline?" The bartender asked as she and Klaus slipped into a corner booth._

"_Possibly. It depends on how slow it is and how entertaining my date is," Caroline teased, winking at Klaus as the waitress walked over to gather their drink order._

"_What can I get you?" she asked far too cheerily for Klaus's taste._

"_Whiskey sour."_

"_Your usual, Caroline?"_

"_No, I think I'll switch it up a little and have the same as him." She grinned at the waitress as she walked away. He looked over at her as she settled into the booth next to him, unfazed by his arm slipping around the back of the booth and her. The pieces were beginning to fall into place. Caroline's secret hideout doubled as her stage, she continually surprised him._

"_So you sing I take it?" he asked, glancing over at her after they thanked the waitress for their drinks._

_She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Sometimes I dabble. It's a great way to blow off steam. They don't seem to think I am a horrible singer here so that makes it more fun." She lifted up her drink and brought it to her lips. "I come here because it's never all that crowded. There are rarely boys tripping over themselves to buy me a drink, which gets more annoying and less flattering over time. The piano player is excellent and it's relaxing," she further elaborated for him. _

"_If it's as simple as that, why don't you bring Damon here ever?" he asked curiously, knowing there has to be more to it than that for her to keep her only family away from it. _

"_This isn't Damon's scene. Damon is more the love 'em, feed from 'em. And leave 'em type and the clientele turnover here is far too low for that. I don't want to lose my favorite watering hole because my brother has the sexual discretion of a prostitute," she chuckled, her laughter making him crack a smile as well._

"_Well, Love, your secret is safe with me." He winked, picking up his own drink._

"_So what do you do to blow off steam, Nik?" she asked. He enjoyed the way his nickname rolled off her tongue, something oddly attractive about the way her tongue clicked with the word._

_Setting his drink down, he turned towards her, preparing to give her a serious answer, "Well, I paint and I've become a bit of an art collector over the years. I have a bit of a knack for spotting talent before it blooms," he told her, taking the opportunity to brag for a moment. "I like to pick up the early works then when the name becomes well known, I have something unique. Those pieces are my little secret."_

"_You will have to show me some of your work some time." _

_ "You should be so lucky, Ms. Salvatore," he said, raising an eyebrow. _

_ As the night wore on, the two of them watched several acts take the stage, ranging from mildly talented to drunk and unbalanced, before the Caroline finally slipped from Klaus's arm and took the stage. She leaned down to whisper her song choice in the piano player's ear, before taking the microphone. Klaus took a quick glance around the room when she took the stage and he could not help but notice how the mood in the room shifted. All eyes trained on Caroline as the music began and somehow Klaus just knew he was in for something special, he had always had a knack for spotting talent. _

_ Caroline's fingers wrapped delicately around the microphone, looking around the room as she began her song, "Though I know we meet ev'ry night and we couldn't have change since the last time. To my joy and delight it's a new kind of love at first sight. Though it's you and I, all the time. Every meeting's a marvelous pastime." Her eyes shifted around the room once again and Klaus understood now. Every man in the room was falling for her and every woman wanted to be her. It was spectacular to watch her in her element. "Can I help but rejoice that a song such as ours came to be? But I always knew I would live life through, with a song in my heart for you. Oh the moon's not a moon for a night and these stars will not twinkle and fade out and the words in my ears will resound for the rest of my years.." She purred out the remainder of the song before giggling as everyone clapped for her. She smiled at Klaus as she made her way back over to their booth. "Well what did you think?"_

_ "I think you earned the piano player quite a few tips this evening," he replied cheekily, returning his arm to its rightful place around her shoulders. "You were exquisite, Love," he told her, swearing he saw an impossible blush on her undead cheeks. _

_ "Well, I believe that's a compliment if I've ever heard one." She smirked as the bartender announced it was closing time and Klaus slipped out of the booth, reaching a hand down to help her. Choosing not to say anything when their hands remained clasped as they walked down the street back towards his townhouse. _

_ "It's late, you should at least allow me to walk you home, Caroline," Klaus protested as they reached his door step._

_ "Nik, what is going to get me? I am one of the things that goes bump in the night," she teased as he reached up to tuck a blonde curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her neck, preparing to lean in and kiss her before he felt her move halt his actions. "Goodnight kisses are earned and I did all the work on this one." She smirked to herself leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I'll let you plan the next one." She whispered in his ear before pulling away from him and beginning to walk down the street._

_ "Does this mean I get a second date?" he asked, calling after her._

_ She turned around and smiled at him, "Maybe." _

| Lost in a Memory |

Klaus wasn't sure why he allowed Kol to drag him out of the house. Perhaps it was concern that Kol might take out half the town including the doppelganger or maybe he just needed some time out of the house, away from his sketch pad with people who could actually converse with him and not the two-dimensions depicted on the paper. The two had never particularly enjoyed each other's company in the past; the two hundred and fifty years the elder Mikaelson had kept the younger one in a coffin for probably did not lend itself for a healthy sibling relationship.

"The menu in this town is quite limited, wouldn't you say, Brother?" Kol questioned, pulling Klaus out of his thoughts. He glanced over at his younger brother, forming a small smirk when he noticed him looking around the bar at all of his female options.

"Stick to the blood bags, Kol. This town is far too small for cheerleaders and soccer moms to go missing," he told him, picking up his glass and swirling the amber liquid around before taking a sip. He turned his nose up as another horrible singer took the karaoke stage beginning a horrid rendition of 'Hey Jude', giving Klaus ample reasoning to make a mental note about snapping Kol's neck later for dragging him out to this place on karaoke night. He didn't pay that much attention to all the noises around him, remaining completely focused on his drink until he heard a few familiar voices pouring into the room.

"I don't understand why we had to go out. I was perfectly content at home watching the Notebook when you made me get dressed up and dragged me down here to listen to this," Caroline pointed up at the stage as she wrinkled her nose before straightening out her leather jacket. Elena and Bonnie seemed determined as they dragged Caroline through the doors.

"No, you were watching the Notebook and crying over a tub of ice cream. You have watched it a hundred times this week. That isn't normal, you are going to wear out the DVD," Elena protested.

"I know you miss Tyler, more than you should considering he bit you, but skipping out on your life because of a boy is no way to pass time until he comes back. What he's doing is important, he wouldn't want you sitting around here moping and we wouldn't be very good friends if we let you, now would we?" Bonnie asked, leading her over to the edge of the bar and ordering drinks for all of them. "Now we are here, we are going to have fun and enjoy ourselves like normal eighteen year olds and forget about the supernatural melting pot that is this town because we could all use a night off."

"Don't look now, but Klaus and his brother are at the bar," Elena warned Caroline and Klaus could not help but smirk as the reaction.

"It's like he's stalking you," Bonnie added.

"We're already here and you made me get dressed, I'm not letting his freaky, little obsession ruin my night," Caroline finally spoke up. Klaus glanced up at her just in time to watch her down a shot of Tequila and walk away from the bar with a second drink in hand.

"I take it they are familiar with you, Niklaus?" Kol questioned, flagging down the bartender for another drink as he finished his.

"That's the doppelganger, Kol. Of course, I'm familiar."

"I'm not a fan of doppelgangers. They tend to be nasty little things. The blonde on the other hand looks like a tasty little piece. I wouldn't mind sinking my-"

"Say another word and I will rip out your liver," the hybrid said through gritted teeth as he watched the three girls on the other side of the bar.

"Someone's touchy tonight. I don't see your name branded on her tiny and I'm certain flexible body," Kol commented, watching his brother out of the corner of his eye. Klaus could tell he was trying to get a rise out of him and chose to take the high road while they were out in public.

"Feel free to take a stab at it Kol, I could use the entertainment from the rejection she is sure to deliver to you."

"I don't believe in work, Brother. If she's all that trouble she is not worth my time. A challenge is all fine and good, but not tonight," Kol commented, looking around at the increasingly drunk women that filled the bar, "Not when all of this is available to me." He smirked, not even bothering to conceal it. "Who is she anyway? Sure, she's a beauty, but aside from that she seems perfectly ordinary."

"Damon Salvatore's younger sister," he answered without peeling his eyes away from the blonde in question, watching her and her friends work their way up to the karaoke table and begin to flip through the books. His mood suddenly lifted despite his brother's determination to annoy him. He watched from the corner of the bar as act after act took the stage until he finally heard a familiar name and turned towards the stage. He had little to no interest in whatever horrible pop song the doppelganger had chosen to sing, but he knew that Caroline would be sure to follow soon and she did not disappoint.

"Next up Caroline Salvatore…" The MC said before the blonde took the microphone with a slight stagger no doubt from all of the liquid courage she and the other girls had been throwing back since they arrived. Her hand tapped softly on her leg as the music began, holding the microphone against her chest as she waited for her cue. She looked nervous at first, but it seemed to fade when she began singing.

"_I've been roaming around always looking down at all I see. Painted faced, fill the places I can't reach. You know that I could use somebody. You know that I could use somebody_," She crooned into the microphone, looking around before continuing on as everyone in the bar began to pay attention to the first person on stage that could actually carry a tune all evening. "_Someone like you and all you know and how you speak. Countless lovers under cover of the street. You know that I could use somebody. You know that I could use somebody. Someone like you_." She looked down at the girls in the front row before her eyes wandered the room, locking with Klaus's for a brief second before moving on. "_Off in the night, while you live it up, I'm off to sleep. Waging wars to shape the poet and the beat. I hope it's gonna make you notice_." The crowd became more riled up as she sang, a cocky smile adorning her lips at all of the attention she seemed to be gaining through her song. Klaus could not move past the look though. Albeit, brief, he felt something, something strong and he was certain she felt it to. Her eyes danced with his far longer than anyone else's and there was something there. There was a spark, something undeniable, something worth fighting for and that's exactly what he intended to do. He would get her back if it was the last thing he did.

**A/N: Alright, as promised, (albeit a little late) here is chapter four. The two songs used are "With A Song in my Heart" by Doris Day in the 20s and "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon in the current day. Things are beginning to settle down a little for me and my muse is coming back full force so I'm confident that it will be less than a month before chapter five is up. **** Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five – Redemption

_For everyone lost in the silence  
For every one missing piece  
For every will that is broken  
No matter how dark it may be  
There is redemption_

_Klaus stood in front of the large wooden door, waiting for an answer to his loud knocks. He and Caroline had been out a number of times, but this was the first time Caroline had allowed him to come pick her up. He guessed that meant he was passing her tests and she now trusted him enough with her address. It had been a frustrating process, courtship. He normally did not partake in such menial, human acts as dating, but he made an exception for Caroline. She was special and he was not about to give up someone like Caroline because of a little work. He crossed his arms as he stood on the stone steps, turning only when he heard the door open._

_ "Klaus," Damon said, stepping aside so Klaus could walk inside._

_Klaus found Damon's uneasiness around him amusing, but he could never quite place it. His best guess was his interest in Caroline considering the two men had gotten along well previous to his romantic endeavors with the blonde. He was no stranger to the bad graces of father's and brother's to the women he had pursued over the years. Caroline was different though. He knew that Caroline cared more about her brother's feelings than most of the girls he had spent time with and that certainly changed things for him. He normally rose above awkward silences, but this time he gave in, "Caroline ready?" he asked, trying to end this moment as quickly as possible._

_"I know who you are," Damon said abruptly, crossing his arms over his chest as he took a predatory stance as he stood at the bottom of the steps. "I spoke to a few friends, Caroline is my only sister and I'm all she has. I have to protect her and if you are really who they say you are, there has to be more to this than that, Mr. Original. You don't do anything without something being in it for you, so what is the ulterior motive here. What do you want with Caroline?"_

_Klaus was slightly taken back that Damon had figured things out so quickly. Truthfully, he had no intention of telling Caroline who he was until he knew how things were going to play out with her. His identity was too dangerous to be out there for everyone to know about, not only for him, but for Caroline and Damon as well. "Did it ever occur to you that I might actually like her? Enjoy her company? Do you have that little faith in your sister?" he asked. _

_Damon scoffed in detest, "This has nothing to do with Caroline and we both know it. You have some kind of play here. Katherine told me all about you and how you've been trying to kill her. Are you just trying to get closer to Katherine? Using Caroline for information?" he asked, "You're a little late on that front. Katherine has been dead since 1864."_

_"You don't know how wrong you are about that, my friend. Katherine may play a small part in it, but-"_

_"So it's true? You're an original?" Caroline asked as she finally appeared from the top of the stairs, ascending them slowly. Judging by the tears on her face, he guessed she had been there the whole time. "You are just using me to get information on Katherine. I thought that might be the reason when you spoke to me the first night, but I ignored it and went out with you anyway."_

_"Caro-"_

_"No," she cut Damon off, walking past him as she grabbed her jacket off the hook by the door. She turned back towards them. "No, I'm so sick of always being second place. Of never being good enough on my own. I'm the back up or the back up's back up. I didn't want to be used. I didn't ask for this," she hissed at Klaus before Damon took a step towards her, she put out a halting hand to stop him from coming and closer. "And you. I am eighty years old Damon! I can make my own decisions, I don't need you to play protector all the time. I love you, but you have to let me live." That was the last thing she said before she nearly lit the rug on fire getting out the door. She was gone before either of them could get out the door to her._

_"Fuck," Damon hissed, running his fingers thought his dark locks before he too took off out the door and took off out the door, leaving Klaus standing alone in the entry way of the house. It took him a split second to figure out what had just happened, but he quickly snapped back into reality and took off out the door to look for Caroline._

_His first instinct was to check the bar she had showed him on their first date, but it was far too obvious. She was not there and truthfully Klaus knew that before he had even entered the building. He knew Caroline better than that, even in their short time together. She was not going to make this easier for him or Damon. He needed to find her first though. If he was going to have any chance of her believing him when he told her the truth, he needed to get to her before Damon. He knew the boy was only looking out for his sister's best interest, truthfully he would do the same for Rebekah if the situation arose, but he still needed to get to her first. _

_He checked most of the city, turning over every dive bar in the city before finally just wandering the streets until he reached the newly constructed pier stretching out over Lake Michigan. He was nearly ready to leave when he heard the stifled sob coming from the end of the pier, stopping to listen closely confirming that it was Caroline before he continued to the end. He made his way down to her stopping just short of her._

_"Don't," she warned from her seat at the very end of the pier. The blonde reached a hand up to wipe her eyes as he stopped in his tracks. "It's been months, you don't think I've learned your scent by now. I'm not a baby vampire, you know?"_

_He took a deep breath before continuing towards her, slowly taking a seat next to her as if he was trying to get closer to a deer and scared of spooking her. "Will you listen to me for a few minutes, Caroline?"_

_She was silent for longer than expected before she finally turned to him, "Five minutes. You have five minutes."_

_"It started off the way that you think. I did not come to town to find you. It was just a coincidence and I recognized you both from the information I had been fed about Katherine. So I tried to get it from you, but you are beautiful and strong and full of light and I couldn't resist getting to know you better outside of the Katherine issue."_

_ "Information and all of these secrets? What do you want with Katherine anyway? She's dead," she asked, shaking her head. "I just want the truth."_

_He looked down at the water for a few moments before looking back at Caroline, "Since Damon has already told you that I'm an Original, I'll save you that piece of information. I'm not an ordinary vampire. My mother had an affair with a werewolf and I am a hybrid. A werewolf and a vampire. Unfortunately, mother dearest didn't want her little family of abominations to have another type of monster so she placed a curse on my werewolf side. I've simply trying to break the curse."_

_"How does Katherine play into this? Or me for that matter?" Caroline asked, giving him more time now that he was beginning to make some sense._

_"Katherine was the key to breaking it. Well, the doppelganger is. Katherine is the second woman to wear that face. Her blood can break the curse in a ritual. I've spent centuries trying to break this curse and she convinced one of the court woman to give her blood and then she hung herself. I'm sure she has told you that portion of her story, but I believe she neglected to mention the part about my brother being in love with her and completely willing to protect her at all costs. Katherine has been a thorn in my side ever since."_

_"Thorn in your side? She said she's been on the run from you for five hundred years."_

_"That's only partially true. I won't deny the cat and mouse game has been going for several hundred years, but the roles have switched sides more than once, Caroline. Any time I get close to anyone, she kills them. She cannot kill me, so she's become determined to make me miserable. I'm not claiming innocence. I can be as ruthless as the day is long, but Katherine is not someone who can be underestimated. And she is very much alive."_

| Lost in a Memory |

"Caroline, what are we doing?" Elena asked out of breath as Caroline dragged her through the old cave, their voices echoing off the walls and back to Klaus where he was standing deep within.

"There are things down here. This is where Katherine was trapped. There might be a clue. The more we know about her current state of mind, the more we can do to fix this situation. We need to protect you, Elena, and Damon may be content sitting on his ass doing nothing, but I am not. If there's information in here, we're going to find it," Caroline said with determination. Klaus had to smirk at her words, it surprised him how much they thought a like sometimes. That determination and vigor was exactly what attracted him to her in the first place. Her refusal to give up on anything, even when it seemed like a lost cause. He had spent most of the morning combing the cave for anything Katherine may have left behind. He considered sending a hybrid to do it, but things of this importance needed to be taken care of personally.

As he heard them rounding the corner, he decided now was a good time to make his presence known, "Hello ladies."

"Klaus," Elena said, halting in her steps. Her body visibly stiffened at the sight of him and he couldn't help but smirk a little at the sight, instilling fear was one of his favorite hobbies.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked, her arms crossing over her chest as she stepped in front of Elena protectively.

"Well, judging by the conversation you two were just having, rather loudly, I might add, I'm doing the same thing you are. I want Katherine out of the picture just as much as you do. You would think considering we have similar goals we could get along on some issues, but it appears your little gang is too distracted with planning my demise to see that," he told him with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you know about Katherine?" Caroline demanded, taking a few steps forward.

"Caroline!" Elena hissed, before pressing a hand to her forehead. "You just crossed the barrier," she added with a sigh, placing a hand on her hip.

"Barrier?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow as he started walking towards Elena and ran right into the invisible wall.

Caroline swore, tossing down the flashlight in her hand. "Emily Bennett put a barrier on the cave so none of the tomb vampires could get out, Bonnie put it back up and that's how Katherine was trapped in here," she crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "And now us."

"I'll go get Bonnie and maybe she can lift it," Elena suggested.

"It killed her grandmother last time, what if it kills her?" Caroline argued.

"And do nothing? I am not going to leave you stuck in here with _him_ for all eternity! Bonnie won't either. She has the power of a thousand witches now, so something like lifting a barrier isn't going to be a problem. She's probably home, I'll go over there and be right back." She gave Caroline a small smile before shooting a daggered glare at Klaus before disappearing out of the cave. Klaus took a deep breath and looked over at Caroline.

"Caroline, I-"

"Just because we're stuck in this stupid cave together does not mean you have to talk to me," Caroline stopped him, holding up her iPhone and trying to get some kind of signal to no avail.

"It's stone, Caroline. A cell phone signal is not going to be able to get though in here," he pointed out, taking a seat on one of the stones inside.

"When I said we didn't have to talk, I meant it. It's really not necessary. Bonnie will be here soon enough. You are under no obligation to make conversation," she told him, taking a seat on the stone floor across from him as she shoved her cell phone back into her pocket in frustration.

"We're stuck, you're right. That doesn't mean we can't have a little fun while we're waiting," he said, a small smirk playing on his lips at the double entendre. She shot him a daggered look. "Oh come on Caroline, I may be a dirty old man, but I'm not stupid. I like a challenge, not a wall." She sighed, easing her look, but not completely letting him off the hook. "That's better."

"I'm only talking to you because we're stuck here," she added, but her exterior was not quite as stone as it had been previously. He was making progress, even if Caroline would not admit it. "You were a jerk the other night," she told him, bluntly.

"I make it a point not to keep my feelings to myself, bad for the soul," he mocked, placing a hand on his chest.

"Like you have one," she shot back.

"You wound me, Caroline."

"You don't have a heart to wound."

He faltered at those words, if only slightly. "I will not apologize about my remarks about Tyler. I've never made a secret out of the fact that I treat my hybrids as slaves and when they don't do as I ask, it doesn't make me very happy, but perhaps, I didn't treat you as you deserve to be treated in the confrontation. In my defense, you did barge your way into the mansion and start screaming at me, so forgive me if I was slightly less than hospitable."

"Fine, I'm sorry for not knocking." She rolled her eyes, a move that make him smirk.

"So what are you doing here, Caroline? What are you looking to gain here?" he asked, leaning forward as he waited for her to concoct some kind of answer for him. The look on her face bordered on uncomfortable, before she looked away from him and down at her hands.

"I just wanted to know more," she admitted. "I told Elena I wanted to try to figure out more about where Katherine is to protect her, but I just want answers." He gave her a quizzical look and she sighed once before continuing on. "I'm sure you already know all of this since you seem to know everything about us, but Katherine was my best friend when I was a human. She came to live with Damon, my father, and I when we arrived in Mystic Falls claiming to be a runaway who needed refuge from her abusive father. She never really told us much else, which I suppose is a good thing because it all would have been lies anyway." She ran her fingers through her hair before leaning back against the wall and looking over at her. "I just want to know why she turned me. If there was some greater purpose or if I was just collateral damage. I mean Damon made sense. She was in love with him or at least she claimed to, but if she didn't care about me, why did she have to ruin my life? I wasn't just some stupid dispensable seventeen year old. I was engaged to the sheriff's son. I had a whole life planned before she came along and ruined it. I just want to know why," she whispered.

"She was jealous," he said simply. When he grilled Anna for information a few years prior, she had spilled her guts about all things Katherine and Salvatore's. "She wanted Damon all to herself, sharing wasn't in the cards for our friend Katherine, even with Damon's dear little sister. In all honesty, she did you a favor when it comes to the mate you were engaged to. He was sleeping with Katherine as well as every other little whore in town. Damon killed him the night you two fled town, just before he took out dear old dad for taking your mother's death out on you for seventeen years. Sometimes, knowing everything pays off."

Caroline just stared at him for a moment, her mind trying to wrap around what he just told her. Her hand traveling almost subconsciously to the necklace she wore every day, wrapping her fingers around it and holding onto it like it was her tether to the world. "Why are you telling me all of this? Being so nice?"

"I'm only horrible to the people who mean me harm. We're on even ground here, we're both stuck. I can't be a sadistic bastard all of the time, I do have hobbies." He smirked at her.

"Hobbies?" she questioned with an incredulous look on her face, "You have hobbies?"

"I paint when I'm not killing people for sport and before you ask, I prefer oil paint to the blood of my victims, why waste the blood?" he shrugged his shoulders dismissively. She chuckled slightly as the comment, shaking her head.

"Well, I can't say I predicted that," she tilted her head, letting go of the necklace and letting it fall to her chest instead of under her shirt where it had been before. His eyes zoned in on it, he would recognize it from anywhere. His body tensed at the sight of it and he needed to get away from her. It was too much. He had too much to do before this all came to a head and that couldn't happen now.

"What is taking that witch of yours so long?" he hissed, his whole temperament changing. Caroline's brows furrowed, staring at him for a moment. Klaus could see the wheels turning as she tried to figure out what had just happened.

"I'm right here and I'm saving your ass so I would be a little nicer to my best friend," Bonnie said as she turned the corner into the cave with the book in her hand. She turned to look at Caroline. "Sorry it took me so long to get here, Care. You okay?" Caroline just nodded, still in shock about how quickly Klaus's disposition changed in front of her eyes.

Bonnie did the spell to raise the barrier with ease, allowing the two immortals to step out of the cave, both brushing the dirt off of themselves as they stepped out. He was just beginning to walk away when Caroline caught up with him, stopping him in his tracks just a few yards from Elena and Bonnie.

"I told you why I want to find Katherine, why do you?" Caroline asked, crossing her arms over her chest after she let go of his arm.

"She took the most important thing in the world from me," he said, vaguely before taking off into the woods, leaving Caroline standing in the dust.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six - The Wind Blows**

_I got to breathe  
You can't take that from me  
Cause that's all that you left that's mine  
You had to leave  
And that's all I can see  
But you told me your love was blind_

_ "Why are you in such a rush to leave, Love?" Klaus asked, attempting to pull Caroline back into bed with him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against him so she could not attempt to get out of bed again. He pressed a kiss to her jaw, beginning to trail his lips over her jaw line as his hands ran down her bare sides. He had trouble resisting that smooth skin and he was hoping if he kissed her enough or touched her just right she would forget all about her plans to leave. He sighed as she slowly began to pull away from him._

_ "I would love nothing more than to stay here, but I haven't been home in three days. I'm in shock Damon has not sent out a search party already. I need to feed and let my brother know that I'm alive and you haven't staked me and tossed me in Lake Michigan, because Damon keeps warning me that could happen," she teased, pulling her dress back over her head and adjusting it into place. "I'll see you tonight, it's not like I'm not going to come back." She smirked at him, leaning down to kiss him as he caught her in a waist, pulling her closer to deepen it. _

_ "I'll pick you up at six," he mumbled against her lips as his fingers crept down to the edge of her dress in an attempt to pull it further up her legs so he could pull her back into his lap. She slapped his hand away, climbing out of the bed once and for all. _

_ "I will see you at six. I trust you will be alright until then. You aren't going to die of sexual frustration or anything while I'm gone, are you?" she asked teasingly as she stepped into her heels, setting her foot on the bed so she could buckle the strap. _

_ "It's entirely possible," he said, biting his lip when she set her leg on the bed. "That's just not fair, you can't do that and then expect me to let you leave." He ran his hand up her leg before she pulled it away and did the same with her other shoe._

_ "You are not going to die and that's exactly what I expect you to do. I have things to do, Nik. As much as I'm sure you would love to chain me to the bed – and don't get any ideas – you can't. I have to go home and chance my clothes and see my brother before he tears in here looking for my body." She laughed._

_ "Fine," he finally gave in, falling back against the bed. He was used to getting his way, but Caroline was an entirely different animal. She never just gave into him, there was always a fight and sometimes she would tell him know just because she could, something that frustrated him to the core. _

_ "I'll see you tonight," she told him, leaning down and pressing her lips to his far too briefly for his liking before she disappeared out the door in a flash. He leaned back against his headboard sporting a smirk, he did not believe would fade for some time. Caroline had been in his bed for the last three days and if it had been up to him, she still would be. It was always hard for him to allow her to leave when the time came, but she was right. He did not need Damon busting in here, looking for his sister. Especially since the man still did not trust him. He did not really care what Damon felt about him, only Caroline. He had special plans for her tonight. This whole wooing thing was new to him, but Klaus was not one to do anything partially. If he was going to step out of his comfort zone, he was going to die it right. He had arranged for The Chicago Theatre to be empty that evening for them to have dinner and then Caroline would have the stage to herself. It was quite the plan if he said so himself. _

_ "That was just adorable, Klaus? How is it? Shacking up with the little blondie that got away from me?" Katherine spoke as she wandered into the room. Klaus stiffened at the sight of her. Within seconds, he had her pressed up against the wall by her throat. "You might want to stop that," she choked out, her hands pulling at his hand without avail, feet kicking away at him. _

_ "And why would I do that? I've been waiting for the moment when I could watch that pretty little face of yours grey for a very long time, Katerina," he told her, tightening his grip as she tried to get away. _

_ "Because your pretty little girlfriend is probably lying on the floor gasping for breath that she just can't seem to get as we speak," she told him, sporting a smirk despite the number he was doing on her neck. His grip loosened instantly, but he didn't hesitate to shove her against the wall by her shoulders._

"_What did you do, Katerina?" he demanded, pushing her against the wall even harder. _

"_I took out a little insurance policy on myself. It pays to make friends with witches. They may be judgy little things but they certainly have good ideas and they know how to get a job done. All it takes is a little hair from a hair brush and your precious Caroline and I are linked together," she told him, her words making him release her. " Anything you do to me happens to her. How else would I be able to keep you from killing or hurting me? I'm nearly five hundred years old, I bet I can stand up to a hell of a lot more pain than your little baby vampire, she hasn't even turned a hundred yet. Shall we test that theory?" she asked, smirking to herself as the dug her fingers into her own side, wincing at the pain, but knowing it was well worth it when he saw the pained and tortured expression on Klaus's face._

"_Just stop," he hissed at her, running his fingers through his blond curls as he tried to figure out how to remedy this situation, "What's to stop me from locking you in a room for the rest of eternity?" he asked, trying to test her, see where he mind was at, if she had an endgame in the works. _

"_And what's to stop me from breaking my own bones, stabbing myself in the stomach repeatedly? Taking my own life? You are always tracking and trying to kill me, I live a miserable existence. It's safe to say I'm depressed, maybe even suicidal?" she told him, wandering away from him to create a bit of distance between the two if he tried anything again. _

_If it would not have killed Caroline, he would have loved to rip her heart out in that moment. Katherine was far too smart for her own good, but he was smarter and he would figure something out to remedy this. For now, he would play along, if for nothing else, than for Caroline's safety and well-being. "So what do you want?" he questioned her, crossing his arm over his chest. _

"_Immunity," she stated simply, causing him to scoff. "This isn't a negotiation, Klaus. You don't hurt or kill me. You don't even chase me. I so much as catch wind of you looking for me and I will take off this bracelet an go for a little stroll in the sunlight. We'll see how Caroline likes the sun." _

"_Fine," he spat furiously. "But I will figure out a way to reverse that and when I do, I will hunt you down like a wild pig and gut you, just like I gutted your family." He may not have been able to hurt her physically without hurting Caroline, but nothing stung quite like emotional turmoil and he was well aware. _

_Katherine glared at him for a moment more before jabbing the letter opener on his dresser into her stomach, "Whoops." She added before returning it to the table. "Goodbye, Klaus. I hope to never see you again," she told him before walking out of the house and disappearing into the night. Klaus cursed, tossing a vase across the room before getting dressed and heading over to Caroline's to make sure she was okay._

| Lost in a Memory |

"Damon!" she called out as she entered the boarding house. She had seen Caroline leave before she pulled into the driveway, but Damon's car was still parked in the driveway. He had to be there somewhere. She ran her fingers through her straightened brown hair before calling out to him again.

"Elena, I thought you and Bonnie were going shopping in DC today?" Damon asked as he walked down the stairs to the entry room.

"Plans changed," she told him simply as she made her way over to him. "Bonnie had to go do something with her father today instead so I had to come up with another plan for the day." She leaned in to press her lips against Damon's and within seconds he had her pressed up against the wall. "Damon what are you doing?" she whimpered, pulling weakly at his hand as his fingers wrapped around her neck.

"Cut the act, Katherine," he told her.

Katherine smirked to herself, knocking her hand away from her neck and landing gracefully on her stilettoes. "Good job, Damon. You are getting better at this."

"You smell like expensive perfume and the souls of innocent men, it's a dead giveaway," he told her, crossing his arms.

"Oh and I suppose Elena smells like rainbows and fairy dust," she scoffed.

"What do you want, Katherine?" he asked her, getting sick of her games.

"Why do you assume I want something? Maybe I just came to town to pay my favorite brother and sister duo a visit. Don't sell yourself short, I could have easily come here to see you."

"You are breathing, that means you want something," he was quick to point out.

"I came to see how you were doing? How is that pretty little girlfriend of yours? Still living in my shadow or is she making right by the doppelganger name?" she questioned him, walking over to the bar to pour herself a drink. "Is she making good by the doppelganger name?" she asked, wearing her trademark smirk.

"Elena is fine and she's going to stay that way. You won't touch her, Katherine," he warned.

"Whoa there, Killer. I have no intention of hurting Elena. Why would I do that when Klaus is so hellbent on doing my dirty work for me. How do you feel about him using your girlfriend as a human blood bag to make his hybrids? We both know one day he is going to get a little greedy and then bye-bye Elena. I can't say I would be upset to see her go. I rather enjoy being the only one with my face. It makes things a lot more convenient for me when I'm in town."

"Why are you in town, Katherine? There is no way you just came to chat with me," he took the drink from her hand and get it down on the table. "And no, I'm not worried about that. Klaus and I have a deal. He's not going to hurt Elena and she's going to cooperate. It makes life a lot easier and I am all for easy. Klaus doesn't have a reason to kill her, unlike you who he has about a thousand reasons to kill. I'm always surprised he has not taken care of that yet. Can't say I'd be sad to see you go."

"Ouch." She made a face, taking her drink back from him. "Well, fortunately the delusions of grandeur you seem to have for me are not correct. I'm just here visiting my favorite brother-sister duo. How is dear little Caroline anyway?"

"Caroline is fine and she's going to stay that way. I doubt she's going to want to you."'

"And she won't. And you won't tell her either. I don't think it's such a good idea for her or the originals to know I'm in town. Kol and I had a falling out a few decades ago and Klaus..well you know how Klaus and I feel about each other. It can just be our little secret Damon, like old times, huh?" she smirked, tracing her finger down his chest before he caught her hand.

"Why would I do anything for you?" he asked, pulling her hand away from his chest and dropping it back to her side.

"Because you know, just as well as I do, that people knowing I'm in town wouldn't be good for anyone. Not you, not me, not even Caroline. Is she still living in the dark these days or has the nasty little cat out of the bag yet? I can't imagine little miss perfect is going to be very happy when she finds out about what Klaus did to her. She hates being told what to do and compulsion is a huge leap up from that."

"No. She's with some stupid hybrid who abandoned her and left town after he bit her and nearly killed her. I was not happy when he skipped town before I got to take a chunk out of him. That isn't stopping Klaus from doing everything in his power to get her to give him the time of day."

"So the big bad hybrid is still pining over your baby sister? That has to get under your skin."

"I am not having this discussion with you Katherine. In fact, I think it's time for you to get out of this house. No one and I do mean no one wants you here. Why don't you crawl back into whatever hell you crawled your way out of. I'm sure you'll find more welcoming company there that you will here."

"Fine, Damon. Have it your way. We could have had so much fun together."

"Just get out of my house, Katherine." Damon said, pushing her towards the door before slamming it closed behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven – Parachute**

_I don't tell anyone about the way you hold my hand  
I don't tell anyone about the things that we have planned  
Won't tell anybody, won't tell anybody  
They want to push me down  
They want to see you fall down_

_ He could not quite put his finger on it, but something was off about her this evening. He was not sure if it was the Katherine incident or something else, but she was near silent all through dinner and nothing made him more nervous than her silence. He normally had trouble getting a word in edge wise, but tonight it was nothing. It was like she was studying him. The tables had turned and he was not sure how he felt about it. If he was human, he probably would have broken out into a sweat under her studious glances. He was just about to break down and ask her what was going on when she finally set her fork down and looked up at him. _

_ "You are going to leave, aren't you?" Caroline asked, facing her fingers together on the edge of the table. He gave her a confused look before she decided to go on. "You've been on edge for the past two days…ever since the Katherine incident and when I was over yesterday Rebekah said something about packing for Paris. I get you wanting to leave after everything that's happened, but I just want to know if you are going. Everyone always leaves eventually. It's kind of inevitable in my life. So yes, I would rather you tell me than walk into an empty townhouse one day and spend the rest of eternity trying to figure out if it was something I did or said or if I just wasn't good enough for you." She took a deep breath and looked away from her plate and up at him. "I love you, Nik. I just can't lose someone else that I love."_

_ "Caroline, I.." he trailed off when he heard the words she had just said. She loved him… She loved him? He had not heard those words from a woman aside from Rebekah in centuries, over a millennium in fact. Not since Tatia. Caroline saying them stopped him in his tracks. Truthfully, he had been planning on leaving, but leaving Caroline behind had not been part of that plan. He just had not gotten around to telling her yet, but this changed everything. This changed everything for the better. _

_ He realized then he had been too quiet for too long by the worried expression on Caroline's face at his silence. Reaching across the table, he took her hand into his, "Caroline, I love you, too. And the answer to your question is yes, I have every intention of leaving, but I also have every intention of taking you with me. It's not safe for you here in Chicago, Love. If Katherine knows I'm here and knows about our relationship with you, that means my enemies may as well. Being who I am, I am at no shortage of those. It would kill me if something happened to you, Caroline. I promised you I would show you the world and I intend on making good on that promise." _

_ "Oh," she said and the ever evolving mystery of Caroline Salvatore continued with that simple one syllable. _

_ "Oh?" he returned, trying to get a read on her expression. It was the perfect mix of confusion and intrigue. _

_ "You just told me you loved me and dangled Paris in front of me. You have to give a girl a moment to process," she told him, giving him a genuine smile as she reached for her glass of wine. That smile was all it took to set Klaus at ease. "What about Damon though? He's my brother, I can't just leave him. He's been protecting me and looking out for me my entire life, I can't walk out on him."_

_ "He could come with us. I don't think Rebekah would object in the slightest. I might object to your brother defiling my baby sister in the next room, but I'm sure he would make a similar statement to Rebekah about me," he said, smirking when Caroline rolled her eyes at the statement. "Damon and I have not always seen eye to eye on every issue but one issue we continually agree on is your happiness. If taking him with us when we leave is what it will take to make you happy, then it's a very small price to pay, Sweetheart." _

_ "I will talk to Damon about it," she said, her smile widening. "Now tell me more about Paris?" she asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively. _

_ "I'm surprised you have never dragged your brother across the pond. It's lovely there really."_

_ "Damon has a thing about boats. I was too young to remember our father putting us on the boat and moving us from Italy after my mother's death, but Damon was seven and a month on a boat for a seven year old was a little more than he could take. He hasn't been on one since." _

_ "Well, hopefully you and Rebekah can convince him. I can be quite convincing myself. There's not much he can do if he happens to be knocked unconscious and wakes up a few hours later several tens of miles into the Atlantic Ocean," he suggested, a smirk adorning his lips. _

_ "Very funny. He would probably kill you. And you still haven't answered my question. Tell me about Paris."_

_ "It's a marvelous city. Hard to put it unto words per se. It's a beautiful city that grows impossibly more beautiful at night, but you, my dear, would still manage to put it to shame when we arrive. I keep a nice little row house on the Champs Elysees. Formerly belonged to Duchess, but it was not difficult to get her to sell. It's just off the turnabout on the Arc du Triomphe. I think you'll enjoy it there."_

_ "It sounds lovely and when I give you my answer, we will possibly get to see it." She gave him a smirk and he knew she was being cryptic on purpose. She could hide the excitement as much as she wanted, but he could see right through it. He just hoped that Damon could see how this was the safest move for them. Not just Klaus and Caroline, but Damon as well. Caroline's involvement with the man put not only her but her brother in danger as well. Klaus, personally, would not be all that sad to see Damon go, but he knew if anything happened to Damon it would destroy Caroline and he could not let anything break her like that. _

_ "I love it when you try to be sneaky," he told her, brushing his lips across her knuckles as they stood from the table and exited the restaurant. _

_ "Well, I am learning to be vague and cryptic from the best." She smirked before leaning in to kiss his cheek. Once they hit the Chicago avenue, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer._

_ "Would not have it any other way, Love," he said, looking around the street as they reached the cross road between his home and hers. "Please tell me I have the privilege of taking you home with me and ravishing you properly this evening." _

_ "Damon went out. He had some kind of plans this evening. You rushed me out of the house quicker than I could ask, but that means that our apartment is empty. So I believe tonight I will be bringing you home with me," she told him, taking hold of the lapels on his suit jacket and leaning in to kiss him. "Now, come with me, _Love_." She smirked, imitating his accent before sliding her hand into his and walking down the street with him. _

| Lost in a Memory |

"Tyler, it's Caroline. This is probably the hundred and ninetieth time I've called you and I know that you are busy and trying to do the nearly impossible, but I could really use a phone call or a text message. Just something to let me know you are still alive and you still care. Anything Tyler," Caroline spoke to his voicemail, the only contact she had with him in the last two months since he had left Mystic Falls. She took a long breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she paced the driveway outside the boarding house. "I'm sick of having a relationship with your answering machine, just call me," she sighed into the phone before pulling it away from her ear and ending the call. She turned to walk into the house before stopping and dialing Tyler's number one more time. "I don't understand why you won't talk to me, Ty. You are supposed to love me. You are _supposed_ to let me in and allow me to be supportive. I'm not asking for a lot. I just want a damn phone call." She yelled before realizing how ludicrous she sounded, yelling at his answering machine. Turning on her heel, she tossed the phone before storming towards the house, but she did not hear the satisfying crash she was expecting to.

"You should really be more careful where you toss these things," Klaus said, holding her phone between his fingers, "This thing is expensive." He smirked. He had heard the entire interaction Caroline had just had with his hybrid's answering machine and he could not say he was sad to see her at such odds with the boy.

"Klaus," she said, catching the phone when he tossed it back to her. She shoved it in her pocket before turning back towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your cell phone from shattering on your driveway apparently," he raised and then lowered his eyebrows, taking a step towards her. "You look like you could use a drink, Love. Care to invite me in?" he asked. He could see the wheels turning in her mind as she tried to decide how exactly to handle to situation.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight – Time Is Running Out

_I think I'm drowning; Asphyxiated  
I wanna break this spell that you've created  
You're something beautiful; a contradiction  
I wanna play the game, I want the friction.  
I wanted freedom; bound and restricted  
I tried to give you up, but I'm addicted._

He should not have eavesdropped. He was well aware of how upset both Caroline and Damon would be if they knew he was still lingering outside the front door of the boarding house and now privy to all of the information they were discussing, but they hybrid could not help himself. Especially considering their topic of conversation revolved around him. He walked out the front door just as Caroline had asked him to do and positioned himself against the wall just next to the window that opened to the house's library, listening to every word that came from the two of them.

"Caroline, what was that?" Damon asked, Klaus could easily tell that Damon was trying extremely hard to maintain what little control he held over his emotions to have this conversation with his younger sister. The friendship Klaus had maintained with Damon had always been tentative at best and it had always revolved around the one and only thing they agreed on. That was Caroline's safety, something Damon, no doubt, felt like Klaus was putting in jeopardy with that all to brief kiss he had just shared with her. Klaus knew that Damon's anger was directed towards him and not Caroline, but by kissing him back she undoubtedly shouldered some of the guilt.

"I-I don't know. It just happened!" Caroline said, bringing her hand to her forehead, wiping it down her face. "I don't know. Tyler's been gone and he isn't answering his phone and Klaus was there and it just…Damon, I don't know. He kissed me-"

"And you kissed him back, Caroline. Please don't try to deny it. I saw that kiss, it was mutual in every sense of the word." Damon paced the study and trying to piece together exactly what he wanted to say. Klaus knew the two of them had their fair share of fights over the years and they were often bad, lasting decades on occasion. Damon was clearly trying to avoid just that. "Caroline, you don't know everything about him. You can't base your decisions on what little you do." Klaus's jaw clenched at Damon's words. It crossed his mind that Damon might be the one to breach their deal. He might tell Caroline all about 1929 and the things they had meant to each other back them. He had it in his mind to reveal his presence and keep that from happening. If anyone was going to tell Caroline, it was going to be him. It had to be him. If he was going to have any chance at having her back, his Caroline back, she was going to have to hear the truth straight from him and he would sooner string Damon up by his toes than give him the satisfaction of turning Caroline completely against him, but before he could step into the room, the man continued on, allowing Klaus to let out a breath he had not realized he was holding. "Caroline, none of us know everything about his past. How do you know Klaus did not compel him to go away just so he could take a stab at you? You don't. Plain and simple. You don't know how Klaus thinks."

"And you do? Damon you have just as much experience with him as I do. We know exactly the same things about him. I'm not jumping into bed with him. I reacted to a kiss. I haven't gotten laid in months, I can't help that my lips reacted to his for a second before you walked into the room!" she yelled back at him. Klaus smirked when he heard her speak about getting laid, he could practically hear Damon cringing from the other side of the wall. It was ironic how wrong she was about how much Damon knew about him. If she only knew.

"I know a hell of a lot more than you do. Don't put that on me. I know far better than to judge a book by it's cover and I've been reading Klaus for years. I'm your older brother, I'm supposed to look out for you, why do you make it so difficult for me?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as he walked to the bar to pour himself a drink of something dark and strong. "And I really don't want to know how long it's been since you got laid. Really. I don't. I'm your brother and now you have me wanting to castrate them both."

"Fine and I know he didn't compel Tyler to leave. Tyler isn't stupid, he takes vervain daily. He can't be compelled. He left because he didn't want to be there and now he won't even talk to me and I don't know if he's coming back or not. I'm still with Tyler. I didn't mean to kiss Klaus. It just happened Damon. You cannot hold ever mistake I make against me. I don't do that to you, if I did, we would never speak again and I think you know that," she pointed out. Those words stung Klaus more than they ought to. _Mistake. _It cut him deep. Kissing him back had been a mistake. He was just turning to leave, not wanting to hear any more of the conversation when he heard her next words, stopping him in his tracks. "I fell for him, Damon. I don't know when and I don't know how, but he's pried his way in and I can't get him out. I love Tyler, I do and I want nothing more than for him to come back to we can be together, but I'm also very angry at him and there's a part of me that cares about Klaus as well and I don't know how or when that started. I don't know when I started smiling when I see him. I don't know when I started allowing him to talk to me without immediately exciting the room, but I did and he's taken up residence in that small part of my heart and I don't know if I want to kick him out or not yet. The logical part of my brain says no. He tried to kill me and you and basically everyone I know over the course of my life at some point or another. I should not care about a murderer or a monster. It's wrong and dangerous and I don't understand it." She dropped down on the couch, letting her head fall to her hands as her fingers ran tentatively through her blonde waves. "But part of me just can't let him go either. I subconsciously seek him out and I don't understand why. I don't understand why I always feel like I can talk to him, why I feel like he is the only one who understands me sometimes. I don't get it. None of it makes sense!" she yelled, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "Damon, I don't understand this draw I feel towards him." Klaus took a deep breath, his eyes widening somewhat at her admission. All of this time he had been trying to break into her life and her heart and he was already there. It sounded like he had never truly left in the first place. Compulsion could take away memories, conscious feelings, and many other things, but he was correct in thinking there were some things stronger than compulsion. It appeared that Caroline's feelings for him were one of the things that were and his presence was making them bubble to the surface much quicker than he could have ever imagined.

In the silence, he took another deep and unnecessary breath, trying to clear his head of the Caroline-induced fog surrounding his thoughts so he could think clearly. He had a decision to make, a very important one. Everything he had done in 1929 was to protect her, keep her from suffering the same fate that everyone that got close to him seemed to suffer. If his presence was going to be counterproductive in that mission statement, then maybe he should go. He needed to go. He didn't have much of a choice. He could not go back there with her. He was a selfish man, but her life was not something he could bring himself to be selfish with. He would come back for her when he took care of the enemy, but until then, he had to let her go. He would wrap up his business in town and then leave. It would not take him more than a week or two to get another bag of blood from Elena and convince Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah to leave with them. He had his family, that would have to be enough for now. Damon would most likely allow Elena to donate more blood if it meant he was leaving.

Klaus kept to himself for the next two weeks. He carried about his business, but did not allow himself any extra activities. There were no drinks at the Grill with Kol to keep him company while he lingered around to catch a glimpse of her. He did not show up at the boarding house, hoping to catch her or plan moments when he could run into her. No texts or phone calls. He simply disappeared from her life. He had ordered the hybrids he had already made to begin packing the mansion, preparing it for their impending departure, when his phone rang. He was more than surprised to see Damon's name on the screen. Truthfully, he had been preparing to call the man himself, tell him he was leaving and convince Elena to give him more blood and in a trade for his removal from Caroline's life. He knew that Damon would do anything to protect his sister and since the act would not hurt Elena, he would be more inclined to convince her. "Damon," he answered the phone, keeping things on neutral terms.

"Listen, I don't have time for pleasantries. We need to talk about Caroline."

"I don't believe I offered you any of those, but sure, we'll keep it all business and no pleasure, what exactly do we need to talk about? In case you have not noticed, I've made myself scarce around town."

"I've noticed. What you are doing to her isn't fair and I won't tolerate it," Damon hissed angrily into the phone. "If you want her back, it's all fine and good, but it's her decision. You can't play with her emotions like this. It has to be on even ground. Reverse you compulsion." The request ricocheted through Klaus like a lose bullet. That option had bounced around his brain a million times, but that did not mean he could actually bring himself to do it. It would open an entirely new can of worms. One he could not deal with while he was preparing to leave.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Mate," he sighed into the phone. "She's not ready."

"Why don't you let her decide that for herself? She's an adult. She can make her own decisions."

"You don't really have any room to talk on that front, do you? You make decisions for her constantly. Tell her what to do, where to go. You do the same thing I do, but far more often."

"That doesn't make it better."

"Look, I'm leaving," he spoke, receiving nothing but silence in return. "I am leaving town for good. Rebekah, Kol, Elijah, and I. I cannot be around her when she is beginning to remember me. I heard her the other night and I cannot do that to her. I cannot put her in danger. Whether that makes me a monster for compelling her or not, I cannot risk it. I want a bag of Elena's blood and I am gone. I'm sure that thrills you to your core," he said, rolling his eyes as he waited for a response.

"You give up far more easily than I ever thought you would," Damon said and Klaus could practically hear the smirk in his voice. If he had been standing there he would have been at risk of losing his heart to Klaus's hand, but instead, he simply clenched his jaw. "Fine," Damon finally said. "I will talk to Elena and convince her to donate a bag of blood, you will have it by tomorrow afternoon, and then I won't see you again until you decide to reverse Caroline's compulsion. Deal?"

"Deal," Klaus spoke without a second thought. He stopped when he heard a knock on the door, wondering who the bloody hell that could be. Without a hybrid in sight to order he answer the door, he padded over to it, the phone still pressed to his ear. When he saw who was standing in front of him, he nearly dropped the phone. "I'll call you back," he spoke into the receiver before hanging up the phone and shoving it back into his pocket as he turned back to Caroline as she stood in the rain outside his door waiting for an invitation inside.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine – Give Me Love**

_Maybe tonight I'll call ya, after my blood turns into alcohol  
No, I just wanna hold ya.  
Give a little time to me or burn this out  
We'll play hide and seek to turn this around,  
All I want is the taste that your lips allow,  
My, my, my, my oh give me love._

_ Klaus had spent most of the day preparing things for their upcoming departure; or at least his and Rebekah's if Caroline decided that she did not wish to accompany them. Once he returned home to shower and change, he headed over to Caroline and Damon's apartment. He hoped that his continual assurances had proven to her that with her was where he wanted to be, but even as she opened the door, he could see her insecurities written all over her face. She always looked as though she questioned his love and Caroline's uncharacteristic silence throughout dinner had left him uneasy. Caroline's silences always revealed more than her ramblings. She had told him once that while she talked a lot, she did not always know what she was talking about; he knew that to be true. Her moments of silence on the other hand always spoke the truth. She wore her heart on her sleeve and whatever she was feeling was always written all over her face. It had been a few days since he asked her to leave town and go to Paris with him and she had yet to give him a proper answer. He was not a patient man, but he had decided not to rush her into a decision. He wanted her to make it on her own, without pressure. He wanted someone to choose him. _

_ "Is there something on your mind, Love?" Klaus asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they strolled down Lake Shore Drive. She looked startled when he spoke, as if her mind was off somewhere else. She craned her neck to look at him, raising an eyebrow. _

_ "Hm?" she asked._

_ "I asked if there was something on your mind, and clearly the answer to that question is yes. Is everything alright, Caroline?" he asked, pausing in his steps so he could look her in the eye. He had a pretty good idea what was going on, but he would allow her to tell him before he jumped to conclusions with her. He had done that too much in the past; it never got him very far. _

_ "Just thinking," she said vaguely, her eyes still looking out into the water. She finally snapped out of it, turning back to look at him. "I didn't mean to space on you. It's nothing; I just have a lot on my mind right now." She shook her head, attempting to brush it off and not worry him further. "I'm fine. I promise." she said as she looked up towards him; but her eyes were focused on his lips and not his eyes. A sure fire sign that Caroline was lying to him. At times like these he both loved and hated that he knew her so well. _

_ "Caroline…" he sighed out her name in an attempt to draw the truth out of her. He did not like her keeping things from him, especially when they were preparing to leave the states together. Well, possibly anyways._

_ She ran her fingers through her blonde waves, adjusting the pins in her hair as she tried to decide on how to word her answer. "You asked me to leave with you."_

_ "Have you made a decision?" he asked, trying to hide the bit of hope in his voice._

_ "I want to, please don't think that I don't want to," she said quietly, sitting down on a bench along the pier, waiting for him to join her before she continued. "But I'm giving up everything if I go. My brother, my independence, my home- and I will do it, but what comes next? What happens to me if you change your mind and decide you don't want to be with me anymore? It happens all of the time. People change their minds; change what they want in life. I'm not saying I need a promise for forever, but if this is just a fleeting thing for you, I can't leave with you," she said, tears forming in her eyes. _

_ He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he wondered how Caroline had gotten so far from what was actually going through his head. Turning towards her, his hands moved to cup her cheeks, and he ran his thumbs over her cheeks. "Caroline, I love you. I would not have said it if I didn't mean it, Love. I love you. I have no intention of bringing you across the world with me and then leaving you in the dust for a French trollop who happens to cross my path. I may not have the best track record with women, which I'm certain Rebekah has filled you in on, but you have always been special and you will always be." He leaned in to kiss her, his nose brushing against hers as he moved to deepen the kiss. He had never been good with words; actions were his forte and nothing was more powerful than a kiss. _

_ "I love you too," she mumbled against his lips, holding the lapels of his jacket as he pulled away from her slightly to look down into her eyes. He could still see some seeds of doubt and he needed to dispel them before he allowed her to make any decisions. He needed to do something bigger. Proposing briefly crossed his mind, but truthfully, he was not ready for that and he did not think Caroline was either. They had only been together for a few months and he had never been at that level of commitment before. Even asking Caroline to come with him was a large step for him. It was admitting that what he had found in Caroline was something that he could not find in someone else when he arrived in Paris. Even Rebekah, despite the fact that she enjoyed having Caroline around, was surprised when Klaus mentioned that he had asked her to join them in Europe. Marriage was an entirely different story though. He was simply not the marrying kind, and not even Caroline could change that about him. Long term commitment was something he could handle though, something he craved if he was honest with himself. Someone to share his life with, but a ring did not need to be involved to achieve that. _

_ "Come with me, Caroline," he requested abruptly, standing up from the bench and extending his hand out to her. Once she took it, he let her back to his townhouse. His next move needed to be played extremely carefully. He knew that. He needed to make her feel safe and secure in their relationship before he allowed her to make this decision. "Just wait here," he told her, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear after he sat her down on the couch. After, he left the room to make his way up to the solitude of his bedroom, digging to the bottom of his drawer until he retrieved a small box and a chain. Emptying the small box, he strung the ring that had once been inside onto the chain before he walked back down to the living room. As he entered, her head popped up to look at him, eyeing his hands as he carefully kept what he was holding concealed from her line of vision. He did not want her to see it until he was ready and he was still on edge about the gift. She needed the reassurance though and he knew that. _

_ "What's that?" she asked, pointing at it. Her head cocked to one side as she tried to steal a peak at what he was holding. _

_ He remained quiet, taking a seat on the couch next to her and holding out the chain to dangle it in front of her, the ring hanging at the end of it. It spun from side to side before finally settling at the bottom of the thin metal necklace. "This, Love, is the Mikaelson family crest. We each have one in my family. It's the one thing that unites us. This is mine." he told her. She gave him a quizzical look, her fingers reaching out to touch the ring hesitantly, examining the design that appeared to be hand laid into the metal of the ring. It was not flashy, just a simple design with no direct indication that it was the Mikaelson family crest. "I want you to have it, at least until I find a jeweler suitable to make you one of your own." He took the ring from her, holding the delicate chain in his fingers and placing it around her neck, running his finger down the chain to straighten it. "There." _

_ "Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, her finger wrapping around the ring and bringing it up to eye level. He smirked a bit, watching her roll the ring between her fingers as if she could break it if she applied too much pressure while examining it. It had survived nearly a millennium in his possession, he was certain a few moments with an eighty year old vampire would not be enough to do the job._

_ "Because I am never without this ring," he said, looking her in the eye._

| Lost in a Memory |

Klaus and Caroline stood there for a moment, both stunned by each other's presence. He could not figure out the look on Caroline's face. She came to him, she should not have looked so surprised to see him, but he guessed this was not exactly where she expected to end up tonight. On reflex, he stepped forward to bring her in and out of the icy rain that was falling that evening. She stood there for a moment before looking over at him.

"Tyler called. He's not coming back. Not ever. His mom signed off on his trust fund early. He's getting an apartment and never coming back," she told him. He paused, waiting for her to say more. Certainly she did not come all of this way in the rain, based on her drenched appearance by foot, simply to tell him that Tyler was never coming back. He could not say he was upset at this new development. He was slightly ticked off that his sired hybrids could simply leave and get away from the sire bond, but Tyler specifically was no loss. He was beginning to enjoy her visit until she spoke next, forgetting all about his plans to vacate the town. "He asked me to leave and go to him," she met his eyes. "I said no." The word 'no' had never sounded so sweet to his ears. Her decision to stay more than likely had more to do with Damon and her friends than him, but that did not matter. For the time being she had chosen him over Tyler. "Why are there boxes everywhere? Were you leaving?" she asked, her expression falling slightly as a look of concern overtook her features.

"Yes," he said. There was no point in trying to hide it from her. The evidence of his departure was all over the mansion, but her announcement changed the game in an undeniable way. It should not have, but it did. Caroline was newly free and standing in front of him.

"Oh," she added, not sure if she had just embarrassed herself or not. True to form, Caroline's silence always meant more than her words. "Don't." She shook her head, her eyes slowly making their way up to his, "Don't leave."

His head cocked for a moment before he closed the small distance between them, pressing his lips against hers. He cupped the back of her neck with his hand as the other wrapped around her body, cradling her against him as if he was afraid she would back away if he did not hold her flush against him. But she stayed right where she was. Her arms wrapped around his neck, one hand burying itself in his dirty blonde curls as a means to pull him closer, allowing the kiss to deepen. Her lips were everything he remembered them to be- soft with enough passion and fire to keep him on his toes. She took unpredictable turns, biting when he expected her to submit and twisting her tongue with his when he expected her to pull back. Then just when he thought he figured her out, she would change again. It was the thing he loved most about her.

He was lost in thought when her fingers began to glide down the buttons of his shirt, bringing him back to reality. In her haste she shredded the shirt, dropping the scraps of fabric to the ground and earning a smirk from Klaus. His chivalry did not give way to the urgency of their motions. He hoisted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist before using his supernatural speed to make his way up to his empty bedroom. He laid her down on his bed, hovering above her as he began to peel the drenched fabric from her skin, depositing the dress on the floor next to the bed. He should have taken his time, relearned her body, but there would be time for that later. Right now he just wanted to feel, feel something real for the first time in nearly a century and the speed of Caroline's fingers as she made her way down to the waist band of his pants let him know she felt the same. A few more flicks of his fingers and Caroline was bare underneath him. She bit her lip, looking up at him as his hand moved down to test the waters and make sure she was ready for him.

"Do you know how unbelievably beautiful you are?" he asked, his lips moving down her neck as his fingers curled inside her, enjoying the moans and whimpers falling from her lips as his fingers moved against her. Her hand gripped his curls, bringing his lips back to hers.

"Please," she whimpered against them. He was more than happy to oblige, aligning himself with her before plunging inside, earning a delicious moan from her lips. His pace began slow, giving them a moment to become acquainted with each other's bodies before increasing. His fingers dug at her hips, rolling them against his to increase the pressure of his thrusts and the friction between them. Caroline met him thrust for thrust, her hips grinding against his in a desperate attempt to get impossibly closer to him. "Deeper," she requested in a whisper against his lips. He grunted, moving his hands down to her thighs, wrapping her legs higher on his waist so he could move deeper within her. He smirked as he felt her body begin to react underneath him. Dropping his mouth to her chest, he feathered kisses over the sensitive skin, before wrapping his lips around the hardened peak, swirling his tongue around it before biting it softly. He moved to the other, repeating the same process as her breath became increasingly shallow. He once again he increased his motions until he felt her orgasm begin, her wet walls tightening around him. "Nik," she purred, her finger tips digging into his skin, pulling at him as her back arched dramatically. He slowed his motions to prolong her orgasm before his own took over, muffling his moans against her lips. They took a few moments to catch their breath before settling into the bed, and Klaus pulled the blonde close to his chest. He should have said something. They both should have, but the silence was comfortable, comfortable enough for them both to fall asleep.

The next morning, Klaus was the first awake. He tried not to stir much, although he did allow a slight smile to take over his lips when he looked down and saw those blond curls fanned out over his chest. His fingers traced patterns on her back, pulling her closer, before seeing her look up to him sleepily.

"Good morning, Klaus," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his chest.

"Nik," he corrected with a small sigh, "You call me Nik." She gave him a quizzical look as he took a deep breath. His fingers came up to cup her cheeks, pressing his lips to hers one more time. "I love you." He murmured in a barely audible tone before pulling back enough to look her in the eye. "Caroline, you remember. You remember everything I compelled you to forget. You remember every memory, every touch, everything. You remember it all."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten – One Grain of Sand**

_Oh I used to treat you sweetly,  
I would pull you to my chest as you cried about the ocean slipping quickly though your hands.  
You were searching for one grain of sand along an endless beach as I was building you a castle you just refused to see.  
I don't want to hold you if you want to go  
I'm not going to make you feel love if you don't  
I would rather learn what it feels like to burn than feel nothing at all._

_ "Nik," Caroline called out, wearing an undeniably smile as she skipped down the steps of her building, not giving him a chance to even finish the walk to her door before she reached him. _

_ "You are certainly in a chipper mood, Love," he remarked after she pressed her lips to his, greeting him with a kiss. Caroline always seemed to be in a good mood, but today she seemed to be happier than usual. He assumed it had something to do with him, but that was probably just his ego talking._

_ "I suppose that is what happens when I make rather large decision about my future, well our future, and I'm feeling good about it," she beamed, leaning in to kiss him again. He enjoyed when she took initiative and started physical contact. He loved a woman who took charge._

_ "Well, we could always skip dinner and head back in- Wait, did you say that you made a decision?" he asked, sliding his hands down her arms and taking her hands as she nodded happily. "Well, are you going to tell me or just leave me hanging in suspense?" he asked, sarcastically._

_ "I'm going to Paris with you," she said, the grin spreading across her face as she spoke. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer, letting his lips crash against hers. He was expecting another answer from her, but this was certainly a pleasant surprise to say the least. He was going to be able to keep his family safe and get the girl; it was quite a day for him really. _

_ When he finally pulled back from the lingering kiss, he looked down at her waiting for the 'but' that he sensed was coming. "What about Damon?" he asked, trying to cover his bases before he allowed himself to enjoy the moment. He did not have the best track record with things like this, he thought it best not to let his mind wander to all of the possibilities of the future before he had all of the facts from her. _

_ "He's staying here. He said it's time for him to trust my judgment and not second guess me all of the time. It's kind of a big step for us. I think he wants some time alone. This whole Katherine being alive thing kind of rocked him to his core. I think some time would be good for him and I can come visit. He can suck it up and visit me too," she told him with a smile. Her excitement about this trip was written all over her face. The plan for Paris was suddenly a very real reality. "So when do we leave?"_

_ "Tomorrow, Seven am. The train for New York leaves at eight. We'll catch the first boat to Europe once we arrive. I've already made the arrangements. I'm certain you will find our accommodations on the boat up to your high standards."_

_ "As long as it doesn't sink like the Titantic I think it will be perfect." She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him. "Are you happy?" she asked._

_ "This is the happiest I have been since I was a human, Caroline. Thank you for that," he said, simply, looking down at her. _

_ "Well, don't get all sappy on me now, Nik," she mumbled, brushing her lips against his. "If we're leaving at seven in the morning, I'll need to pack," she whispered against his lips as she trailed her fingers down his jacket. "Give me three hours and then I will come over and we can think of a creative way to spend our last night in Chicago." _

_ "What happened to dinner?"_

_ "You gave me twelve hours to pack my entire life and leave. I don't have time to have dinner. I barely have time to breath," she said, shrugging her shoulders as she detached herself from him._

_ "Well, it's a good thing that you don't need to breath," he said, punctuating his sentence with a wink. He dropped his hands from her body and allowed her to pull away from him._

_ "I will be over at nine tonight. I promise. I hope you are prepared to lug the huge trunk of things I'm going to make Damon carry over for me later." She leaned in to give him one last kiss before heading back into the apartment building._

_ Klaus's mind was still reeling from the decision that Caroline had made. Quite honestly, he was expecting to leave for Paris without her and this was certainly a pleasant turn of events. He was going to show Caroline the world, beginning with Paris. The castles, the monuments, the opulence. It would all be within Caroline's reach once they arrived, he would see to that. She deserved the world after all and she was his. That part was hard to believe sometimes. Caroline was his. Someone so beautiful and full of light should not have seen anything in a monster like him, but she still did and he couldn't understand that. He choose not to question it though. He could not imagine how dark and hopeless his world would feel again without his light, but he did not intend on figuring that out. _

_ Once he arrived back at the townhouse he and Rebekah shared, he resumed proceeding over the packing. This was the first time he had left a place on his own accord without haste. He had been running from Mikael for so long, it was a pleasant change to be two steps ahead instead of one, but that changed quickly. Nine o'clock came and went with no sign of Caroline and the nagging feeling that Caroline's absence was not of her own volition._

_ "Katherine," he spat under his breath before grabbing his coat and storming out the door to go look for Caroline. _

| Lost in a Memory |

It took a moment for everything to snap into focus Caroline. Klaus could see the glazed over look in her eyes as she tried to process the new information. He needed her reaction. He needed to know she did not hate him. That she could see that he was only trying to keep her safe, that he had good intentions for once, but all he received was silence. She sat up slowly, pulling the sheet tightly around her chest as she stared at him.

"How could you do this to me, Nik?" she finally hissed, shaking her head as she ran her fingers through her blond hair in a way he could only describe as manic. She looked around the room, finding a few pieces of her clothing, pulling them on in haste. "You cannot just take away a person's free will! Make their decisions for them!"

He jumped out of bed as well, pulling on a pair of boxers on as Caroline put her clothes on in such a rush. "Caroline, I-"

"No!" she said, putting up a warning hand as he watched the tears spill from the corners of her eyes, trailing down her pale checks. "Why did you do it, Nik? Was I not strong enough? Did you think I was too weak to handle running with you? That I wouldn't handle Katherine and anything else that came our way? Do you really think that low of me?" she asked her voice breaking as she spoke. It was always shocked him how much she could affect him. She was his weakness. A weakness he could not afford to have but could not live without. A vicious cycle that was Caroline Salvatore. She curled her arms around herself, letting the tears fall freely without any measures to stop them. He took a step towards her and she snapped out of her trance, looking up at him with nothing but disappointment and it sliced through him.

"I was trying to protect you, Caroline. I had to protect you. Everything I've done had been to protect you, Love," he tried to tell her, but she did not seem to be having any of it. She was not in the business of forgiveness as the moment. She just shook her head, angrily pulling her shirt over her head.

"Do you know what it's like to live every day for eighty-three years knowing something is missing? Something that you cannot remember? That makes you ache to your core because you know if you just found that one thing you would be happy?" She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as if that would hold in her tears or even her anger. "I have a gap inside myself that I've been trying to fill for years. Decades, Nik! You made it. You erased my memories, but you erased part of me, the part that was happy. How could you do that?" she asked, her voice coming out in a whisper. "You weren't trying to protect me; you were trying to control me. Put me in a safe place until you deemed that it was time to get me just like you do with your family in the coffins."

"I didn't have a choice, Caroline!" he yelled back at her. He needed her to get it. Needed her to understand that everything he had done in the years since he left her was for her. It was all for her, always for her. He could not be selfish with her. What she called a lack of trust, he called a risk he could not take. Katherine may love to break his toys, but Mikael preferred to take away the things that meant most to him and make them suffer for getting involved with him in the first place. Mikael did not make exceptions simply because the object of his rage was undeserving and Nik could not let Caroline get caught in the crossfire of a centuries old father-son feud.

"Well, I didn't have one either!" she cried, looking back at him. "I can't even think straight. I should hate you. I should hate you with every fiber of my being. I hate that I can't hate you, but I don't like you very much right now. You manipulated me. You made me forget about the love of my life so you could run off for god only knows what reason." He winced when she called him the love of her life. It was exactly what he wanted to hear, but the timing was not right. He ran his hand over his face, trying to figure out how to make this better.

"Just tell me what to do, Caroline. Just tell me how to make this better."

"You can't, don't you see that?" she asked, her fingers toying nervously with the sheet, before finally settling it to rest on the bed along with the other blankets. "I can't do this, Nik. You took my choice away from me. You promised you would never compel me and you did, in the worst way. You compelled me to forget you. To forget everything that we had. You got my own brother to lie to me for nearly a century. I don't even know who I can trust. Who will tell me the truth anymore." She pulled her jacket over her shoulders and shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I have to go. I can't be here anymore." She squeezed her eyes closed tightly, refusing to cry anymore tears over this. She looked at him once more, a look of pure disappointment before turning and walking out the door.

**A/N: Please review or comment?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven – In My Veins**

_Nothing goes as planned  
Everything will break  
People say goodbye  
In their own special way  
All that you rely on  
And all that you can fake  
Will leave you in the morning  
But find you in the day  
Oh, you're in my veins  
And I cannot get you out_

_ It was not supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be asleep, waiting for their journey the following day or better yet, he should have been ravishing her to mark the last time they would make love before they departed from Chicago. There were tens of things that night should have included, but searching every abandoned property in the city for where Katherine would have hidden Caroline was not one of those things. He checked the high end properties first with no avail before making his way to the warehouses and rundown dens on the south side. No sign of Caroline. He had finally reached the conclusion that he needed to go to her home and face Damon. Tell him his sister was missing and hopefully get some help to find her. Damon knew Katherine better than anyone; he hoped that that included her habits when she was getting frantic. He paced outside of the building for a while before finally walking up and knocking on the door. _

_ Damon gave him an annoyed look when he opened the door, "Took you long enough, I called an hour ago, Bekah said you left in a hurry," he said. Klaus was sure he went on further, but he stopped listening the moment that he heard Caroline's voice behind Damon._

_ "Nik, is that you?" she asked softly, her voice filled with tears and what he guessed was fear. He had never seen Caroline afraid of anything so he was not quite sure what to expect. He pushed past Damon and made his way to her side, his eyes scanning over her body for any signs of injury or struggle. _

_ "Are you alright, Darling?" he asked, tucking a blond curl behind her ear, pulling her closer. He had never quite seen her like this before. It was not sadness, it was something else entirely. She seemed an alarming mixture of confusion and uneasiness and he could not understand why. She did not answer his questions verbally, instead just nodded. Physically, she seemed fine, but he still had to call her mental state into question. "Caroline, Love, say something. What happened?"_

_ "Katherine was here. She was just walking out the door when I got home. Caroline was like this when I found her. She's barely said three words," Damon commented, leaning against the doorway. He kept his distance from them and Klaus was not sure why. He knew that Damon understood their connection, but he was constantly stepping in the way of it. Another reason Klaus knew this situation was more grave than he had initially thought. Caroline pulled closer to him when Damon spoke up, burying her face in his chest as she tried to gain some semblance of security. _

_ He pulled back, cupping her face in his hands and looking her in the eye, "Love, I need you to take a deep breath and tell me what Katherine said, just calm down," he said, compelling her without truly meaning to. He was surprised when it worked. Normally, Caroline was routine in taking her daily dose of vervain, but it seemed she missed it today. He watched her take a deep breath and look up at him._

_ "She said that you were going to die and if I did anything stupid I would too. That we're linked and if she dies, I die. Is that true?" she asked, looking up at him as a single tear ran down her cheek. He began to answer her, but then she went on. "She also said that Mikael was coming. That he had a weapon that would kill you. You are supposed to be invincible. There's a weapon that can take you from me?" _

_ He detached himself from her when she spoke, standing from the couch as he ran his hand over his face. This was unexpected. If he had not wanted to kill Katherine already, he did now. She was putting everyone in jeopardy; himself, Rebekah, Caroline, Damon. Two of those people were ones Katherine was supposed to care about, but when she was in survival mode, nothing mattered more than her own life. He paced the room for a moment, shooting Damon an annoyed glare whenever he gave him a rude remark about not being able to think under pressure. _

_ "Nik, we should leave," Caroline said, looking up at him and pulling him out of his trance like state. Mikael always seemed to set his teeth on edge, but Caroline had the opposite effect. It was an internal battle of Caroline's calming effect and the thought of Mikael counteracting that. He looked down at her when she spoke, giving her an opportunity to go on. "We can just leave early for New York and then leave for Paris just like we planned. We'll get away from Mikael and Katherine and anyone else who wants to hurt you. I don't mind running if I'm running with you. We'll be okay if we're together." Her blue eyes found his and he almost took the deal for a moment, but he could not do that to her. She deserved better than a life of running from his father. She deserved to be happy and free, not tied to him for the rest of eternity as they ran from his homicidal father. _

_ "No," he shook his head._

_ "No?" she questioned, "Nik, we can't stay here if your father wants to kill you. You have told me about him. We have to run, you have to be safe." She was looking at him like he was an idiot for not reacting sooner, but he could not curse her to this life. _

_ He ignored her completely, turning to Damon, "Put her in the car and drive as far as you can. You even think Katherine is on your tale, you leave again. Don't come back to Chicago. Don't go to Mystic Falls. Don't go anywhere Katherine might think you would go. Don't put her in danger." Damon nodded turning to Caroline and grabbing her arm. _

_ She wrenched her arm from his grip and looked from one to the other. "No!" she yelled. "Damn it! No. Stop making decisions for me. I can make them myself and I'm not running with Damon. I am staying with you." She poked Nik's chest. "Now let's go before Mikael gets here." _

_ "I'm not taking you with me, Caroline. He is not after you. I won't put you in his sights. It won't end well for you. It never ends well for anyone who gets on Mikael's bad side. You cannot come with me. I won't take you," Klaus said, backing away from her. _

_ "You cannot just tell me what to do!" she hissed, her teeth clenched. "I hate you," she said, half-heartedly. Her words would have hurt if she actually meant them, but the pain of having to leave her behind to keep her safe was all consuming now. He could not take her though; no matter how she begged and pleaded. It would be certain death for her if she came with him. _

_ "Good. You should. I won't take you, Caroline." _

_ "I won't let you leave me." _

_He watched the tears fall down the apples of her cheeks and his heart clenched. His resolve was set though. He was going to do one unselfish thing in his miserable life and that was going to be keeping Caroline Salvatore alive if it was the last thing he did. He walked over to her and cupped her cheeks bringing her in for a kiss. She resisted at first, but a few moments later she gave in. A few moments later, he pulled back, cupping her face in his hands. He locked his eyes with hers once more, the look of disappointment in her eyes when she realized what he was about to do was the most painful thing of all. He was certain it was burned into the back of his brain for all of eternity. He would never forget it. "You will go with Damon, leave Chicago tonight. You will never come back here, you were bored with the town and you needed a change. If Damon says it's time to leave, you will leave and you won't question him. He is only looking out for your best interests. The only thing you will remember about your time in Chicago is the lake and the bar where you like to sing. You won't remember myself or Rebekah or anything I told you during our time together. You won't remember me," he repeated, a single tear running down his cheek. She repeated his words back to him and they felt even worse coming from her. He sat her down on the couch before pulling Damon out of the room. _

"_You compelled her?" he yelled at him in a hushed tone. _

"_She wouldn't have gone with you any other way. You don't want me in her life; you've got your way. I won't come back for her until Mikael is dead. Get her out of here, Damon," he warned, gripping his shoulders, before walking back into the living room with him. _

"_Damon, who is that?" Caroline asked, looking from Klaus to Damon and back again._

"_No one," Klaus said simply, nodding to Damon before walking out the door. _

| Lost in a Memory |

Klaus watched her walk out the door and instantly wanted to destroy something, so he did. He ripped the lamp from it's table and sent it crashing across the room, the vase sitting next to it quickly followed. As he continued to shatter every piece of glass in the room, he couldn't help but wonder why he put so many breakable things there in the first place. He broke everything he touched, the disaster he was standing in was proof off that. He ripped apart pillows and tore the mattress, shoved down the bookshelf and shattered the end tables. As he stood in the wake of his destruction, he questioned the decision. Was it right to allow her to remember? He was not sure. He knew he should have never compelled her to begin with and this entire mess would have been avoided, but chances are she would be dead by now if he had not. Mikael would have seen to that for certain, just to make Klaus suffer. He did what he had to so they both could stay alive. That was all he could tell himself to get through it. Eighty-three years of torture so they could both stay alive.

It was over now though. He could have her back if he could only convince her to forgive him. Words were not his forte but he could try for her. First, he needed to find her though. He tried her cell phone with no response. He did not think she would to begin with, but he had to try. He tried everywhere. Caroline was a creature of habit when it came to her haunts. He started with the bar at the grill, wondering if he would see her drowning her sorrows there, but she was not. Then came the falls, he knew she went to the woods there to hunt and think sometimes, but it was also vacant of her presence. After trying a few other places, he wandered up the walk to the boarding house.

"It's about time you showed up," Damon said, pulling him inside before Klaus could even knock.

"What are you-" Damon interrupted him by pressing play on his phone.

"_I hate you. How could you do this to me?! You knew, Damon. You knew this whole time that Nik compelled me to forget him. You knew that I was in love with him. Every time I felt lost or empty and I spoke to you about it, you just brushed me off or told me it was probably nothing or any one of the hundreds of bullshit excuses you've given me over the years. You knew everything and you lied to me. You lied for him. I'm your sister, you're only family and you've been lying to me for almost a century. How could you? I hate you so much,_" Her voice came flooding into the room throw the speakers of the phone in Damon's hands. It was clear that she had been crying, maybe even drinking. He prompted Damon to play it again, listening to the back ground noises to try to determine where she was in hopes of finding her.

"Do you mind filling me in? I think I missed the part where you lost your mind and told her everything," Damon yelled. "I thought you were leaving? What happened to that plan? I liked that one, it got you and your oh so lovely siblings out of my hair."

"Plans changed," he said solemnly. "We should probably find her, she sounds drunk and emotionally-"

"You slept with her didn't you?" Damon asked, leaving an incredulous and confused looking Klaus standing in front of him. "She didn't come home last night and now she has all of her memories back. It wasn't that much of a leap."

"Yes, I compelled her to remember everything. I was just taking your advice. _Be fair to her._ Weren't those your exact words? I figured that she was over do for a rude awakening."

"After you got it in one more time of course. I know my sister, there is no way in hell she would have slept with you after you compelled her to remember. She's a hell of a lot smarter than that," Damon snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and looking over at him. His teeth gritted at the thought, an act that was no wasted on Klaus.

"Well, if you are so angry about it, why don't you do something about it? Why don't you enlighten me as to where she is then? I believe the two of us have some things to discuss and if you must know I probably have an apology or two to give."

"Hell, if I know. I thought you were coming over because you knew."

"If I had any idea where she was, would I be here?"

"Well, smart ass, let's go look for her then."

"It appears we won't have to," Klaus said, holding his phone up as Caroline's name and photo appeared on the screen. He pressed the green button and brought the phone to his ear. "Caroline, darling, I know we've had a fight, but I think you should come back to the boarding house to we can discuss this like adults."

"Caroline can't speak at the moment, Boy."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve – The Funeral**

_Really too late to call  
So we wait for; morning to wake you  
Is all we got  
To know me as hardly golden  
Is to know me all wrong, they warn  
At every occasion, I'll be ready for the Funeral_

Klaus sent the crushed phone hurling across the room into the fireplace, the veins under his eyes rippling and blackening as the rage over took his body. He could not think straight, the only thought that pulsed through his head was how much he wanted to kill Mikael.

"Telemarketer?" Damon asked, uncrossing his arms and walking over to him.

"Mikael has Caroline," he said, his jaw clenching. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid for nearly a hundred years. He picked a bottle up from the bar and sent it hurdling towards the fireplace, causing the fire to roar up for a moment before dying back down.

Damon growled at the mention of that name. "How did you let this happen?"

"I don't know. She left. She was upset. She was alone," he growled.

"What else did Mikael say? Is she even alive still? He doesn't keep his victims alive for very long. I've heard stories," Damon asked, trying to mask his nervousness at the prospect of Mikael having his baby sister. This was a worst case scenario for them both.

"I don't know. I crushed the phone before we had an opportunity to catch up."

"Genius move there. He has my sister and you didn't even stop to see what his demands are. I don't recommend going into hostage negotiation. You could get anyone killed."

"Forgive me for having a knee jerk reaction to my demon of a father calling. Temper control has never been my strong suit."

"Lucky for you, patience isn't his," Damon said, holding up his cell phone where Caroline's name appeared once again. Klaus took the phone from his hand and answered it.

"_Niklaus, I trust you've taken the phone from the eldest Salvatore so listen to me closely. You will meet me at the Lockwood cellar at sundown or the girl dies. It would certainly be my pleasure to accomplish that. I've been after this one for years. You seem to taint everything you touch; she used to be a sweet girl too. Pity,"_ Mikael spoke in a taunting tone.

"Caroline is innocent, Mikael. Leave her out of this."

"_I'm afraid I cannot do that, Boy. This is your fault. I taught all of my children, even my wife's bastard son, not to have weaknesses. They only bring you down in the end and I'm afraid this pretty, little blonde will be your downfall. All too quickly I'm afraid. As much as I would love to drag this out and make it worse, unfortunately I have places to be. I will see you at sundown."_

"What did he say?" Damon demanded.

"He wants to meet me. Trade my life for hers. He still has the white oak stake and he wants me gone," Klaus said, simply.

"So in other words, Caroline is as good as dead," Damon scoffed, feeling like tossing a bottle of his own at the fire.

"I'm meeting him at sundown. He can do whatever he wants to me as long as he lets her go. I really don't care as long as she's alive. Once he's distracted, get her out. You run again, as far as you can. He's even more invincible than I am. So just run," he warned Damon.

"Sun down is in twenty minutes."

"And we need to make it across town by then. Lockwood Cellar." Damon nodded when Klaus spoke, fiddling with his phone for a moment before shoving it in his pocket and following Klaus out the door.

It did not take long for the two supernatural beings to reach the Lockwood Cellar. Just as Klaus suspected Mikael was alone. His jaw set when he saw Caroline's unconscious form behind his step father, her neck jostled in an unnatural way. He considered attempting to wrestle the stake away from Mikael to stake him, but he was too close to Caroline to risk it. As they walked further inside they finally got Mikael's attention and he turned to face them with a wicked grin on his face as he crouched down next to Caroline's unconscious form. "Niklaus, I was beginning wonder if you had run off like the coward that you are, but then again. You never liked to share your toys and she is a pretty little thing, isn't she?" he asked, running his fingers over Caroline's cheek. Damon had to grab the back of Klaus's shirt to hold him in place so he didn't run at Mikael and get them all killed. "I see you've brought a friend, unfortunately that whole safety in numbers theory is just a ruse, but I see it's a Salvatore you've got there. Well, come collect your sister, what's left of her anyway. Her neck has been broken a few times, who knows what's still left in that head of hers," he taunted. Damon stepped forward, scooping Caroline into his arms and holding her close to her chest. Klaus's eyes shifted to the blonde in Damon's arms, looking her over for any sign of further trauma. Bullet holes, stab wounds, ligature marks, any sign that Mikael had tortured her, but he found none. One thing he could be thankful for in this entire ordeal. "So are we doing this willingly or will I have to chase you?"

"I always was one for a fight," Klaus replied, cheekily. Mikael did not hesitate to lung at him, tossing him into the stone wall as Damon stepped out of the way to keep Caroline from coming to further harm. Klaus tossed back a punch, shoving Mikael backwards, wrapping his fingers around his neck and jerked him up in the air.

"You can do better than that, Boy. Surely, your street fighting taught you better than that," Mikael spat, kicking Klaus back and forcing him to relinquish his hold on the older man's neck. He was sick of the games, he reached in his jacket pocket and retrieved the white oak stake from it's depths, lunging forward after his son with it in hand. The two men rolled around on the ground for a while before Mikael finally had Klaus pinned to the ground, the stake mere millimeters above Klaus's heart. The younger man struggled to keep it from piercing his chest.

"_Incendio in Manu_," Bonnie chanted as she burst into the cave. She repeated it several times, closing her eyes and trying to focus until finally the stake lit in Mikael's hands, leaving him powerless and stunned as Klaus shoved him off of him. Once Mikael gained his wherewith outs, he growled, lunging for Bonnie, but Klaus seemed to stop it. "_Restringunt debilito enervo obstupefio," _she chanted again and sent Mikael reeling back into the wall. "Damon, Klaus, blood contact," she yelled out the command. Damon set Caroline down on the ground gently before moving to Mikael at the same time as Klaus. The two of them dug their fingers into Mikael's chest as Bonnie began another incantation. Slowly but surely the veins of Mikael's body began to darken, his skin turned pale and then grey. A few moments later the two of them set Mikael's desiccated body down on the ground. "That's the way he belongs."

"What did you do?" Klaus asked, confused as he looked down at Mikael and back to Bonnie.

"It's a desiccation spell. He will remain in this state until someone gives him blood and that will never happen."

"Points for Bonnie," Damon said, standing up from the ground.

"Why did you do it?" Klaus asked.

"You saved Caroline, you get one freebie. This was it. You do anything else to piss me off or hurt my friends and you will be joining your father at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean," she warned before turning to Damon, "You can make that happen, right?"

"Of course, Witchy. You didn't tell Elena about this little side project right?"

"She is safe at home with Jeremy, none the wiser to any of these events."

"Perfect, you are free to road trip to the coast with me," he said, wrapping his arm around Bonnie's shoulder. "Klaus, I trust you can get Caroline home safely while I dispose of your father?" Klaus didn't stick around to see the two of them get Mikael. He walked directly to Caroline and collected her in his arms before he made his way back to the boarding house and up to her bedroom. He set her down carefully on the bed, righting the damage that Mikael had done to her neck. He walked down the basement and retrieved a few blood bags, knowing she would probably need them when she woke up, along with his own blood to heal her, before returning to her side. He sat there for hours with her, waiting patiently, or more truthfully not so patiently for her to regain her consciousness. When he grew more tired of waiting, he tore into his wrist with his fangs, hovering it over her mouth and allowing the blood to drip into it in hopes of bringing her around.

After twenty minutes give or take, she slowly began to come around, first curling into his body, then pushing him away when she became more lucid. She looked up at him groggily, taking the blood bag in his hands and tearing it open and drinking from it greedily. "What happened?" she finally asked, slightly out of breath from how quickly she had swallowed down the blood.

"Mikael happened," he said, sitting back against the head board to give her a little space as she looked like she needed it. He was glad she was awake and even happier that for the time being she did not appear to be as hostile towards him as she had been earlier in the day. "When you left the mansion, I'm guessing you ran into him, that or he followed you. Then he snapped your neck and used you as bait to try to kill me."

"Good to know I'm living up to the nickname Klaus-bait," she said, reaching for the other blood bag and pushing herself up to a sitting position. She winced slightly as she shifted her weight around. Klaus reached his arm to stabilize her before pulling away when she shot him a daggered look. "Why did you do it?" she asked and he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You won't leave with Damon. I couldn't protect you and run at the same time. You would have been dead in a few years and your blood would have been on my hands. While I like blood on my hands, yours isn't exactly a death I want to be responsible before. I prefer you alive, even if that means you loathe my very existence, Caroline."

"That's touching, but it does not change the fact that you compelled me, Nik. You promised. You promised you would never compel me. That doesn't mean you won't compel me unless it's convenient for you or you won't compel me unless it's in my best interest. That means that you never ever compel me for any reason ever again," she warned sternly.

"Again?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Lucky for you, I am in the business of giving second chances, but I'm warning you. I will never miss a dose of vervain again, Nik. I've missed two in my life and that's how this whole mess happened in the first place. There will be no compelling ever and you will take me to Paris finally. It was promised to me and I think that you should deliver."

"I think I can agree to those terms, Love," he said, threading his fingers into her hair and bringing her close to him. He leaned into kiss her, but she stopped him short.

"And we're getting a kitten," she mumbled just before his lips crashed against hers.


End file.
